Britain’s Kartal stuns No. 4 seed Andreeva to advance to quarterfinals

World No. 81 Sonay Kartal of Great Britain pulled off a stunning upset, defeating No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 on Wednesday, Oct. 1, to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. It was Kartal’s first-ever victory over a Top 10 player. 

“She’s a Top 10 player for a very good reason,” Kartal said after the match. “She made me play my best tennis today, so credit to her, but I’m super happy with the level I managed out there.” 

The match was full of unforced errors, with both players combining for 84 throughout the encounter, but according to Kartal, the errors were by design. The mistakes came because she was going for more.

“Typically I’m a bid of a grinder,” Kartal said. “It’s unlike me to spray balls or miss balls early on. I like to wear the opponent down. I think at my base level I can always count on that I’m going to get to every ball on the court. At this level, that’s not good enough.

“I think I have to add an aggressive game style but also not lose the grinder that I am. So I think the bigger points I know that I need to be more aggressive and be better at dictating and be up front of the court. That’s what I was prepared to do today. Executed it, I think, spot on today.”

Kartal capitalized on Andreeva’s lapses in concentration, including six double faults. Despite Andreeva forcing Kartal’s serve to deuce three times in the first set, the young Brit was able to hold firm and eventually seize the key moments. At 6-5, Kartal broke serve at love, helped by two groundstroke errors from her opponent. 

Andreeva fought back in the second set, breaking serve twice as Kartal struggled with consistency on her first serve and made several unforced errors, particularly on her backhand.

The third set was tense. Both players held serve to 5-5, but in the crucial 11th game, Kartal fended off two break points, then capitalized on a misfired backhand from Andreeva to hold serve and take a 6-5 lead. In the next game, Andreeva double faulted to push the score to 30-30, which summed up the 18-year-old’s subpar night. On her second match point, Andreeva hit her 45th unforced error of the match, sending a forehand wide and giving Kartal the win. 

“I was relieved to get off the court after two hours of really high-level tennis,” Kartal said. “Mentally, I was locked in for every single point, but super happy and super proud that I’ve made my first quarterfinals at a 1000.”

Kartal credited her own aggressive playing style as a key to her success: “I focused on taking away the spin, making the trajectory of the ball flatter, and following my shots in a bit more.” 

With the victory, Kartal jumps to No. 60 in the WTA rankings, surpassing Katie Boulter to become the No. 2 British player, behind Emma Raducanu. In the quarterfinals, Kartal will face World No. 26 Linda Noskova, who won in straight sets in their only previous meeting in Rome last May. 

— Reporting by Coby Spratte

Noskova hustles past Potapova

No. 26 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-4 on the Lotus Court to advance to quarterfinals. This will be the 20-year-old’s second WTA 1000 quarterfinal this season. The win improved Noskova’s record over Potapova to 2-1.

Noskova entered the Round of 16 after defeating Xiyu Wang in the second round and advancing past the third when No. 7 seed Qinwen Zheng retired from the match. 

With the match falling on China’s National Day holiday, the Lotus Court was filled with families.Having played against Zheng in a packed Diamond Court two days earlier, Noskova did not seem fazed by the noisy atmosphere, but Potapova struggled to stay focused while serving.

Noskova broke serve three times in each set and looked more dominant than her opponent throughout the match. She frequently approached the net and closed out points with attacking volleys. Noskova also outmatched her opponent with resilience in the second set, winning all five games that went to deuce, including three breaks.

—Reporting by Luca Giordano