Kartal upsets Svitolina to reach Wuhan semi-finals

Sonay Kartal's winning streak following a long injury lay-off continues as she seals a hard-fought victory over fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.

Sonay Kartal has dropped to 170 in the world after her long-term injury, but reached a career-high ranking of 44 last summer

The 24-year-old Briton, who missed more than six months with a stress fracture in her back, beat Ukrainian Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4 to mark her sixth win in eight matches since returning from injury.

It was another eye-catching performance by Kartal, who defeated Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini and Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the previous rounds.

She will face 2017 French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko, who came through a tense opening set to beat 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (8-6) 6-1, in her first WTA 1000 semi-final on Saturday.

Kartal is only the second British player, after Johanna Konta, to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final since the format's introduction in 2009.

Source: BBC Sport