Tattooed tennis sensation issues 5-word vow to fans after romping into last 16

Daily Mirror

6 hours ago

Sonay Kartal is on the verge of a quarter-final spot after blasting her way past Diane Parry in Friday's third round match, and is enjoying the pressure at SW19
Tattooed tennis sensation Sonay Kartal - who has vowed to get a new inking after Wimbledon - romped into the last 16 at SW19 on Friday. And she vowed "I'm going to go swinging," as she bids for a quarter-final spot on Sunday.
British Fan favourite Kartal, 23, blasted past France's Diane Parry and afterwards thanked her stack of pals cheering her on in Court One. The Brighton-based star, who stands at just 5ft4in tall, has caught the eye this year with her retro Adidas outfits and quirky tattoos - of which she has 14.
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She told after her latest victory how she loves 'old school' 1990s and 2000s music and how her favourite karaoke song is Dolly Parton's Islands in the Stream. Sonay, whose dad is Turkish and used to run restaurants in Brighton, has tattoos that include an eagle, a snake, the year 2022 to signify when she first played in four Grand Slams.
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She has several on her knuckles which have no meaning, plus a bee she got during the French Open and two quotes, one saying 'time is everything we have and don't', and another that says 'the show must go on'. She previously said her favourite was a paw print of her first dog, a large golden retriever, which she has on the back of her arm.
And laid-back Kartal is taking all the hype in her stride as she prepares for a crack at Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the quarter-finals.
'I enjoy it. I think it's an honour,' she said. 'Obviously if you've got a lot of attention on you, it means you're doing good things. I'm pretty calm and pretty collected. I don't think it's going to affect me too much. But no, I'm just enjoying it all. I'll still pretty young. It's my first fourth round.
'I feel like I'm going to go out on the court in the next round kind of with nothing to lose at the minute. I'm going to go swinging."
Kartal, or Karts as she is called by those that know her well, first started playing tennis at the age of six at Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club, where she still trains.
Sonay, who did not take the usual route to tennis stardom as she could not always afford coaches, was backed from around the age of 19 by the LTA. Off court, animal-lover Sonay says she tries to spend as much time as possible with her family and her latest dog, Blue, who she takes for 'adventures' along the coast.
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Asked about Dolly Parton being her go-to karaoke song, she responded, laughing: 'Oh Islands in the Stream, yeah.'
On Wednesday, when asked what her 15th tattoo could be, she invited the public to send ideas that she would consider.
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'I'm open to suggestions,' she said. 'Like if people throw me some good ideas, I will definitely consider them - 90% I would end up going with one of those ideas. If people want to send me their ideas, I will most likely pick one of them and will probably chuck it on somewhere.'
Sonay was last year pictured with then-boyfriend, bodybuilder Luke Ogbourn, who she is understood to be no longer with. But she still had plenty of support in the crowd, saying: 'I had all my closest family in the box, coaches that I've been with.
'Then I had a lot of people scattered on the seats all from kind of like my club, members that I've known since I was six. Yeah, that was super special. I couldn't necessarily see them, but I could hear a lot of familiar voices in the crowd, which was definitely nice.'