Kartal gets British women off to winning start at Wimbledon

With a victory over Jelena Ostapenko, the 20th seed, Sonay Kartal was the first player to pass from the 14-strong British contingent to start the first day of Wimbledon action.

Kartal defeated the former French Open champion 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 to advance to the second round on a hot day at SW19.

Kartal, 23, has been playing for the All England Club for the most British women since 1992.

On a lively court three, she had to come from behind to win the opening set.

However, following a strong tournament at last year’s Wimbledon, where she advanced to the third round, a dominant deciding set ensured her progress to round two for the second time in her career.

After the win, which was her third over a top-20 player this year, she said, “That was by far one of the toughest matches I’ve played.”

“I would say that I struggle against the big players,” he said. This year, I’ve made a conscious effort to compete in bigger matches and put myself under the most pressure on the court.

I was certain that the outcome would eventually pay off, and that is what happened today.

In the last 18 months, Kartal has seen a remarkable rise in rankings.

She reached the third round of Wimbledon last year as a wildcard ranked 281 out of the world.

She cut a calm and mature figure on her return this year, which came in 230 places above that.

Ostapenko, 28, was comfortably defeated by Kartal in Eastbourne’s opening round last week, but the Briton maintained her composure as she fell 5-2 behind.

Kartal won the next five games with a forehand from Ostapenko, saving set points 5-4 before moving in the set from the set.

Ostapenko was shocked when Kartal sent a sharp forehand round the net post, but the former Wimbledon semi-finalist made it work and won the match comfortably.

Despite this, Ostapenko continued to grow increasingly irritable throughout the match, yelling profanity and berating herself while yelling at her coaches.

She asked the umpire to let the crowd be quiet before shouting at them, raising her arms in exasperation, and the crowd’s fans received glaring looks as well.