Wuhan: Britain’s Sonay Kartal stunned World No.6 Elina Svitolina in the Wuhan Open quarterfinals 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the Dongfeng Voyah Centre Court to march into her maiden WTA 1000 semis here on Friday.
Moreover, Iga Swiatek beat Ann Li 6-4 6-1 in second quarterfinal.
Kartal continued her stellar run in the tournament, which is her third after a back injury layoff to become just the second British to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal since the introduction of the format in 2009, after Johanna Konta.
The Briton battled past the Ukrainian in a two-hour-and-three-minute battle after being a set up but losing the second one and then holding the edge in the third one to march into the semis.
Speaking after her performance, the Briton highlighted that she has broken new ground. “Despite winning the first set pretty comfortably, I knew what a great fighter she (Svitolina) is, so I knew that until the very last point was played, I was never safe,” she said.
“Super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match, and I just think it was solid composure from me throughout.
“I’m breaking new ground this week. I’ve never reached a semis of a WTA 1000, and as I’ve said, I absolutely love playing here and playing on these courts. The atmosphere was amazing today,” the Briton added.
Kartal, who was previously ranked No.44, had made it to the third round in the China Open last week. She put up stellar performances in Wuhan in the Asian swing as she defeated world No.48 Anhelina Kalinina in the first round, before cruising past No.12 Belinda Bencic in the round of 32. She then defeated former French Open and Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in the pre-quarters.
The Brit now got the better of four-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Svitolina for the first time in three meetings.
Kartal would now be up against Ostapenko in the semis. Ostapenko had earlier defeated Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals 7-6 (6), 6-1 after being 2-5 down in the first set.
Ostapenko had to save two set points in an action-packed first set and had to rally back from a break down before cruising past the 11th seed in the second set to register a win in one hour and 37 minutes. This is now her second semifinal appearance in WTA 1000 events in 2026 following her run to the last four in Doha. This is also her second semifinal in Wuhan after 2017.
The Latvian unseeded star was 2-5 down in the first set as she lost her serve in a crucial sixth game. She held her serve to keep things 3-5 but needed to break Shnaider to stay alive.
Ostapenko then saved a set point in the ninth game on Shnaider’s serve and then again on her serve in a 10-minute marathon game to level things 5-5. The opening set went right down the wire as the Latvian unleashed strong winners and bagged the tie-break 8-6.
It was comparatively smooth sailing for Ostapenko in the second set as she led 3-0 in no time with a break up. That became 5-1 quickly as she broke the Russian in the sixth game before holding her serve to win the second set in just 29 minutes.
She fired 32 winners in the match, as compared to Shnaider’s eight and also landed seven aces, while the 11th seed could not find one. Ostapenko also committed 30 unforced errors and would have to be careful when she takes the stage in the semis. Agencies
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