05-07-2025
Sonay Kartal breezes past Diane Parry to reach Wimbledon fourth round
The fact Sonay Kartal has until now been consigned to the shadow of other British prodigies is no reflection of her character. The daughter of a kebab shop owner in Brighton with a retro style, half-cocked serve and 14 tattoos — she is taking requests from fans for a Wimbledon-related addition — Kartal toiled through her teenage years without funding and was struggling to break into the world's top 1,000 when Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021.
But on a sunbaked afternoon on No1 Court, the 23-year-old beat France's Diane Parry 6-4, 6-2 to become the first Briton to make it into the fourth round at Wimbledon, and the manner in which she dominated the second set suggested she can revel in becoming the home crowd's new heroine.
