Kartal had dropped to 298 in the world after a difficult 12 months due to health problems and had to qualify for this year’s Championships. A string of excellent displays at Roehampton last week booked Kartal’s place in the main draw and the British number nine backed it up with a superb 3-6 6-2 6-0 win over Cirstea on Monday to join Emma Raducanu and Lily Miyazaki in round two. MASSIVE from Sonay Kartal!!! 👊 Her 1st ever Grand Slam win & biggest career win by ranking #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.
twitter.com/XdGijwitbF — LTA (@the_LTA) July 1, 2024 “I hadn’t known they won, that’s obviously super good for British tennis. It’s nice when you see your friends also winning,” Kartal reflected after a maiden Wimbledon victory at the third time of asking.
“Yeah, I’m super stoked with that one. I think last two years, having fallen short, I felt good this year coming through qualifying. “I think it really helped with my performance.
It gave me extra confidence having played the matches not that long ago at all. I think that really played a part in the win. “My greatest and definitely my proudest (day).
I think getting a first win at any slam, and to have it at Wimbledon makes it extra special. “To have the people around me that I’ve spent my whole life since I was six playing with, they were here to experience that with me, I think that made it extra special.” Kartal quickly found herself a break down on Court 15 against experienced Romania.