Wimbledon star Sonay Kartal playing for life-changing payday after struggling to afford a tennis coach
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SONAY KARTAL has spoken of her tennis financial struggles while growing up – ahead of a potential £240,000 payday.
Emma Raducanu's childhood rival is on the cusp of reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time in her career.
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Sonay Kartal has dazzled the British crowd in SW19
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Unlike some in the sport, the 23-year-old did not have a silver spoon in her mouth – she had a modest upbringing in Brighton and her family ran a local Turkish restaurant.
Yet when it came to the sport she chose, having dabbled with football and cricket, she did not have any support until hooking up with the LTA aged 19 and earning Pro Scholarship Programme (PSP) funding.
Kartal – who plays French qualifier Diane Parry on Friday – has £152,000 in her back pocket but if she wins two sets, she will add an extra £68,000 to her back balance.
The British No.3 said: 'Obviously tennis is super expensive.
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'When I was growing up, I kind of did quite a lot of tournaments on my own because I couldn't afford to pay a coach week-in, week-out.
'It helped me develop as a teenager, grow up super fast, made me much more mature. I held myself accountable to a lot of things.
'The LTA helped me massively. It came at exactly the right time. It was when I started to come on the scene and was putting together a few good wins consistently.
'They really helped to give me all the equipment and access to everything I needed to develop as well.
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Kartal, 23, did not have it as easy as many tennis players growing up
Credit: Getty
'I've shot up the rankings. My game style really rocketed.
'My coaches back in the day, they would charge me I guess the lowest fee and would try to help me out as much as possible.
Watch British Wimbledon stars Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal have incredible rally at 9-YEARS-OLD in throwback video
'I was out quite a lot of years injured as a teenager.
'I didn't pick up a racquet for a couple years. I was kind of a bit inconsistent as I was going through my teenage years.'
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