Kartal makes history by reaching WTA 1000 final at Wuhan Open

Sonay Kartal defeats Jelena Ostapenko to reach her first-ever WTA 1000 final against former world No 1 Iga Swiatek or French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska; You can watch the WTA Wuhan Open final - live on Sky Sports on Sunday from 11.30am

Britain's Sonay Kartal was forced to dig deep to beat Jelena Ostapenko and secure a spot in her first-ever WTA 1000 final on Saturday.

Kartal became only the second British woman, after Johanna Konta (Beijing 2016, Miami 2017, Rome 2019), to reach a WTA 1000 final with a stunning 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-5) victory over Ostapenko.

Currently 170th in the WTA rankings, Kartal will break inside the top 50 and become the new British No 1 after becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the final in Wuhan.

The 24-year-old, playing in only her third tournament since returning from a back injury, saved multiple set points to punish Ostapenko, despite the Latvian hitting an astonishing 50 winners in the match.

Since the Tier format's introduction in 1990, Sonay Kartal has become just the second player to defeat five former finalists en route to a Tier I/WTA-1000 final, after Naomi Osaka (Montreal 2025)

Source: Sky Sports