Latest news with #BritishNo3
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Sonay Kartal reaches Wimbledon fourth round for first time after sweeping past Parry
Sonay Kartal reached the fourth round at a major for the first time with a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory over the French qualifier Diane Parry. Kartal started the third-round match on No 1 Court aggressively, putting Parry on the defensive, and unleashing an overhead smash winner to lead 30-15 in her opponent's opening service game. Parry rallied with a beautiful forehand down the line before Kartal brought the game to deuce and earned a break point. Parry, undeterred, saved it with a well-placed volley winner and ultimately held serve after a hard-fought six-minute game. The world No 103 then broke in Kartal's first service game. The British No 3 fired down two successive aces before seeing her efforts negated by a double fault, pushing the game to deuce. Parry's willingness to approach the net paid off handsomely, as a deft backhand volley winner earned her a break point and she secured it with a forehand into the corner. Parry held serve to 30 in the third game, with an inch-perfect slice from her single-handed backhand, putting the pressure firmly on her opponent. The Frenchwoman continued to dominate at the net, executing a brilliant stretch volley winner off a backhand pass. However, after 21 minutes of play, Kartal finally got on the board, holding serve to 30, much to the appreciation of the Court No 1 crowd. The tide began to turn in the sixth game of the first set with Kartal holding serve with an ace to finish the job. The atmosphere on Court No 1 was tense as she then surged to a 0-40 lead in the next game, earning three break points. Parry bravely saved the first two but the crowd roared their encouragement for the home player. Cue a tense, cat-and-mouse rally: Kartal attempted a drop shot, Parry dug out a shot to the baseline, and Kartal, opting for a down-the-line backhand instead of a lob, netted the shot. Parry's second double-fault of the match presented Kartal with a fourth break point and her low slice forced Parry to net a forehand, and secured the break back. At this juncture, Kartal's groundstrokes began to find their mark, landing close to the lines. She consolidated the break by holding serve to 30. Suddenly, it was Parry's unforced error count that was climbing, reaching 15 for the set as Kartal levelled at 4-4. An extra bounce in her step and increased confidence in her shot-making were palpable. Momentum swung. Kartal dug deep, battling back from deuce, to break Parry once more, taking a 5-4 lead following a fourth double fault from her opponent. Serving to take the set that initially looked like slipping through fingers, Kartal hit two unreturned serves before Parry hit a forehand and backhand long in succession. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Frustration began to mount for the French player in the second set with a meekly sliced backhand into the net, offering Kartal two immediate break points. The British No 3 then sliced a backhand to Parry's forehand, which she flicked long, securing the break. At 40-0 on her own serve, Kartal attempted a cheeky serve-and-volley, a bold move that, while ultimately not coming off, showed her growing confidence. She held serve nonetheless with a whipping a high topspin forehand into the corner for a decisive winner. Parry, clearly frustrated did manage to hold serve twice and force Kartal to serve for the match. And she did just that with a forehand winner and a blistering ace. One of the Brit's 14 tattoos reads: 'The show must go on.' And on it goes to a match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who defeated former champion Naomi Osaka in three sets.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cameron Norrie battles back from set down to stun 12th seed Frances Tiafoe at Wimbledon
At a vital moment of an engrossing second-round match here on Wednesday, Cameron Norrie was as much of a spectator as anyone in a partisan crowd on No 1 Court. At a set down, 4-4 and 30-40 in the second, Frances Tiafoe, the No 12 seed, had got a racket to Norrie's second shot and the ball took a slow, looping arc towards the sideline. The American's band of supporters were halfway out of their seats to acclaim a vital break – only to see it land just wide. A relieved Norrie had clawed back to deuce from 0-40 down, and he seized the moment to hold, then break and gradually exert an ever-stronger grip on a match that had briefly threatened to get away from him, as he eventually ran out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 winner. There were definite echoes as he did so of the form and resilience that carried the British No 3 all the way to the semi-finals here three years ago. That run deep into the second week also propelled him to a career-high No 8 ranking, but after an injury-troubled second half of 2024, he had dropped all the way to No 91 in mid-May before a run to the last 16 at the French Open edged him back within sight of the top 50. Tiafoe, meanwhile, went into the match buoyed by a career-best run to the quarters at Roland Garros last month. In a tight opening set, the American's touch and willingness to try something different kept his opponent guessing during a series of baseline duels, and one subpar service game from Norrie was enough to see it slip away. He served three straight aces to close out both the seventh and ninth games, but the damage had been done in the fifth, where some fine shot-making by Tiafoe – including a perfectly disguised lob that left Norrie planted and bewildered – combined with a dip in the British player's first-serve percentage, allowing his opponent to carve out the only two break points of the set. He took the second of those as Norrie sent a forehand long. Tiafoe's first-serve percentage, meanwhile, was barely 50%, and while he had more than enough quality to beat his first-round opponent, Elmer Møller, with a similar strike rate on first serve, Norrie proved to be a much more demanding proposition. He both fought and thought his way back into the match, and by the middle of the third set, he was consistently finding a way to wrest back the advantage in points where Tiafoe held an early edge. There was a big fist-pump from the American as he quickly retrieved an early break in the third, but no way back after Norrie seized on a weak second serve at break point in the eighth game and then served it out. The balance had shifted slightly but decisively in his favour, and the crowd could sense it too, urging their favourite home in a fourth set that always seemed to be edging Norrie's way. The sliding-doors moment in the second set was the first thing on Tiafoe's mind afterwards, not least as it was a near carbon copy of the previous point, at 15-40, when he had also carved out a decent chance to put away a winner. 'It was two shots in open space where I picked them, I guess, right, and didn't make either of them,' he said. 'I think that was a huge turning point, I thought his intensity and belief went much higher, and he played much better. It could go anywhere in the court and the point is over, so that was hard.' Norrie, meanwhile, is enjoying every step of the process as he works towards a possible return to the second week here – for only the second time in his career – and the upper reaches of the world rankings. 'I played an unreal match,' he said. 'All-around complete, serving well, moving well, solving the drop shot really well, which in the past I haven't always done. Hitting the slice, coming forward well, being clinical. 'I think it's a good thing to go through, being injured, not winning, then having resilience to back yourself. 'For me now, coming into the match against Frances, being the underdog, play for free, it's a lot easier than in the past when the pressure was on me. It's nice to hunt the other guys and be on the flipside.'
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cameron Norrie battles back from set down to stun 12th seed Frances Tiafoe at Wimbledon
Cameron Norrie's revival after an injury-blighted 2024 season continued apace as the former world No 8 fought back from a set and love-40 down to knock out American Frances Tiafoe, the No 12 seed, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5, showing glimpses as he did so of the form and resilience that carried him to the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2022. A single loose service game by Norrie made the difference in a closely-fought opening set, and he had another mountain to climb facing three break points in the ninth game of the second. A Tiafoe half-volley on the third appeared to be looping in for a vital break as Norrie could only watch on, but it landed just wide and Norrie worked his way back from there. A break in the next game and a brilliant pass down the line at set point in the 10th levelled it up, and the British No 3 slowly took control, finding ways to seize control of points when his hard-running opponent seemed to have the upper hand. Two aces helped to ease any nerves as Norrie served it out at 6-5 in the fourth, and he will now face either Jiri Lehecka, the No 23 seed, or Mattia Belluci as he looks to reach the fourth round here for only the second time in eight attempts. This report will update
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brit Sonay Kartal upsets Jelena Ostapenko in Wimbledon first round
Six days after Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko beat Sonay Kartal at Eastbourne, the British No. 3 got revenge in the best possible way. Kartal recorded a shock Wimbledon victory over her seeded opponent at the All England Club, beating Ostapenko 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. The 23-year-old established herself on the grass courts of SW19 last year, when she got to the third round while ranked No. 298 in the world. That year she went out to Coco Gauff. The early signs this year show that Kartal is once again well up for putting on a show in front of her home crowd, and a run in the tournament could see her break into the world's top 50. Advertisement In the unforgiving heat, Kartal restricted Ostapenko's trademark, flat-hitting power to impose her own tricky game on the Latvian, holding firm in some nervy moments to earn one of her most impressive career victories to date. 'That was one of the toughest matches I have played. I struggle against the big hitters, she beat me easily last week,' Kartal said courtside. 'Thank you to everyone for coming out. 'After the year I had last year, I am happy to put myself under pressure to succeed. Last year I left this tournament feeling a different player. I want to see how far I can go this week.' Kartal immediately fell a break behind in the opening set, going 5-2 and then 5-4 down. With Ostapenko holding three set points for the opener, the Brit clawed her way back into contention. With the momentum on her side, Kartal charged ahead, claiming another break and holding to 15 for the set. Advertisement Ostapenko responded well, romping to parity by taking the second set within 33 minutes. Two straightforward breaks were enough to level the match, seemingly putting herself in pole position to come from a set down. But Ostapenko, who twisted her ankle ahead of Wimbledon and was a doubt until late into last week, could not regain her footing. Kartal instead dominated the third set, securing three consecutive breaks to put herself in a near insurmountable position. Serving for a bagel set, she appeared to let the pressure show as she was broken to 15 in a nervy-looking few moments. But despite Ostapenko's subsequent hold, the No. 20 seed could not prevent the Brit from sealing the match on serve. The jubilant crowd on the No. 2 Court jumped to their feet following the first British success story of the tournament. Kartal's victory over Daria Kasatkina at Queen's earlier this month represented just her second win over top-20 opposition, and while Ostapenko is ranked just one place outside that category, it represents a big scalp for the Brit. Viktoriya Tomova now stands in the way of Kartal's matching last year's breakthrough Wimbledon run. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Telegraph
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Sonay Kartal knocks out Jelena Ostapenko in biggest victory of her Wimbledon career
Sonay Kartal secured the biggest victory of her Wimbledon career by knocking out big-hitting former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. The British No 3 gained revenge for a straight sets defeat by Ostapenko in Eastbourne last week and in doing so became the first British player through to the second round, via a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 victory. Kartal was a picture of calm on Court No 3 despite the high temperatures that the start of this year's Championships is experiencing, never taking too long between points and cutting a quiet figure on the court. It was not until a big fist pump when her victory over the Latvian was confirmed that there was any outward display of emotion. 'That was by far one of the toughest matches I've played. I would say that I struggle against the big hitters, so getting that win today after her beating me last week was great,' Kartal said after she secured her place in the second round for a successive year. 'I've made a conscious effort this year to play the bigger matches and put myself under the most pressure out on court. I knew that I wouldn't get the results straight away but that it would eventually pay off, and that's what happened today.' Ostapenko found the match difficult, and was unable to sustain her highest level. At the start of the second set, having lost five games in a row as Kartal clinched the first, she paused after throwing the ball up before serving. She also told spectators to be quiet, then turned to the umpire to complain before uttering a loud 'Shhhh' in the direction of the apparent offenders. While the reaction was vocal, it sparked her into impressive form in the second set, although she could not sustain it. It was Wimbledon last year that lifted Kartal's professional career to a new level. Starting the 2024 tournament ranked No 298 in the world, before an impressive run to the third round as a qualifier. This year she has established herself as the British No 3 and reached top 50 in the world, already surpassing her own target of top 50 before the end of 2025. She is currently ranked 51. Only two weeks ago, Katie Boulter said she expected Kartal to surpass her in the world rankings after the two came up against each other at Nottingham, where Boulter won in three sets. It was a difficult start to the match for Kartal, who was three games behind without getting onto the scoreboard, but she fought back bravely from 0-3 and 2-5 down, winning five games in a row to take the first set. In the second, Ostapenko raised her level and showed her experience but she could not sustain it into the decider. As the crowd grew louder in support of the home favourite, Latvian Ostapenko faded as Kartal gained an extra gear with her movement around the court while still hitting impressive shots down the line.
