Archive March 9, 2025

British lucky loser Sonay Kartal continued to make the most of her reprieve by earning the biggest win of her career to reach the Indian Wells third round.

Kartal, 23, produced a stunning performance to thrash Brazilian 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-1.

It is the British number three’s first win against an opponent in the top 20, with Haddad Maia ranked 17th.

World number 83 Kartal has also reached the last 32 of a WTA 1, 000 event – the tier below the Grand Slam tournaments – for the first time.

“Being a lucky loser takes the pressure off and you could say it’s a good position to be in”, Kartal told BBC Sport.

“It’s nice to have this second chance and almost like a free run at it”.

Kartal lost in the second qualifying round on her debut in the Californian desert, but was handed a spot in the main draw when former US Open champion Sloane Stephens withdrew through injury.

It is the first time the Englishwoman has been picked out as a lucky loser.

After beating 38-year-old American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko in the first round, Kartal used the feel she has gained on the new-look Indian Wells courts over the past week to great effect against Haddad Maia.

Haddad Maia received a bye into the second round and looked out of sorts as she slumped to a fifth successive defeat.

“It was one of those matches where you come off court thinking ‘ I can’t fault myself too much'”, added Kartal, who plays 60th-ranked Polina Kudermetova for a place in the last 16.

“I’m super proud of that performance and it’s given me a lot of confidence heading into the next match”.

Kartal’s run is another notable landmark for a player who has enjoyed one of the sharpest rises on the WTA Tour in the past year.

In October, she won a maiden tour title in Monastir and cracked the world’s top 100 for the first time as a result.

At the start of 2024, Kartal feared she would not play again that season because of a health scare that left her going “in and out of hospital”.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka clinched a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over McCartney Kessler of the United States in her opening match of the tournament.

The world number one from Belarus faces unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the third round on Monday.

American Madison Keys, who denied Sabalenka a third straight Australian Open title in Melbourne last month, also booked her place in the third round.

Keys saw off Russia’s Anastasia Potapova 6-3 6-0 in her first match since her maiden Grand Slam success and will play Belgium’s Elise Mertens next.

British lucky loser Sonay Kartal continued to make the most of her reprieve by earning the biggest win of her career to reach the Indian Wells third round.

Kartal, 23, produced a stunning performance to thrash Brazilian 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-1.

It is the British number three’s first win against an opponent in the top 20.

The world number 83 has also reached the last 32 of a WTA 1, 000 event – the tier below the Grand Slam tournaments – for the first time.

“Being a lucky loser takes the pressure off and you could say it’s a good position to be in”, Kartal told BBC Sport.

“It’s nice to have this second chance and almost like a free run at it”.

Kartal lost in the second qualifying round on her debut in the Californian desert, but was handed a spot in the main draw when former US Open champion Sloane Stephens withdrew through injury.

It is the first time the Englishwoman has been picked out as a lucky loser.

After beating 38-year-old American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko in the first round, Kartal used the feel she has gained on the new-look Indian Wells courts over the past week to great effect against Haddad Maia.

Haddad Maia, ranked 17th in the world, received a bye into the second round and looked out of sorts again as she slumped to a fifth successive defeat.

“It was one of those matches where you come off court thinking ‘ I can’t fault myself too much'”, added Kartal, who plays 60th-ranked Polina Kudermetova for a place in the last 16.

“I’m super proud of that performance and it’s given me a lot of confidence heading into the next match”.

Kartal’s run is another notable landmark for a player who has enjoyed one of the sharpest rises on the WTA Tour in the past year.

In October, she won a maiden tour title in Monastir and cracked the world’s top 100 for the first time as a result.

At the start of 2024, Kartal feared she would not play again that season because of a health scare that left her going “in and out of hospital”.

Fifty minutes gone at Murrayfield and it was freewheelin ‘ time. Five Scottish tries in the bag, a 27-point lead on the board and Finn Russell directing his players around the pitch with the authority of the world’s greatest traffic cop.

Easy. Scotland were all width and class, pace and execution. They were a joy. Blair Kinghorn, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan – even big Duhan van der Merwe was coming off his wing and getting involved in the show.

An exhibition of what is best about this team. Devastating.

They made bits of Wales, who were vulnerable to the wide game and who were caught out when Scotland ran up their guts.

Their composure was so shot that they gave their hosts a free seven-points when Ben Thomas lost the plot in the lead-up to Scotland’s fourth try. They had a man in the bin and all hope in a skip.

Same last year in Cardiff when the visitors led by 27 points early in the second half and were hanging on at the end. And same on Saturday. It wasn’t quite the smelling salts and stretchers of 2024, but it was close.

Nobody can be sure, but with Wales scoring 21 unanswered points from the 62nd minute (plus a try for Taulupe Faletau that was disallowed) many people would have bet the house on Wales winning had it gone on much longer.

In boxing parlance, Scotland were stuck on the ropes, almost defenceless, eyes rolling in the back of their head as Wales unloaded. The last bell saved them from possible mortification.

In the first half they’d built their lead which saw them home and fair play to them for that. They won, they got five points and now they’ll move on to Paris to try to stop what seems like the inevitable – a French title.

They’ll travel, of course, with all the good wishes of their friends across the water. Irish fans are suddenly Scotland fans.

Saturday was Scotland in microcosm, their excellence and their weakness. It was a day that showed again why you can’t see them progressing to the status of contenders even if you buried your face in a vat of happy juice.

Everything really started to go wrong when Russell was taken off as an injury precaution and the bench started to appear. Not enough of them make a positive impact. Several of them added to the errors and the chaos.

Scotland’s hair caught fire when Teddy Williams drove over with 11 minutes left. Too easy, that. The home team had stopped working as hard it had been.

Faletau’s try didn’t stand but it left an impact. In the preamble, Blair Morgan was missed by Stafford McDowall and Kyle Rowe, then after the illegal hurdling, he did George Horne. The score was correctly ruled out, but Wales were on a roll.

That last try showed Scotland in their panicked state. Joe Roberts eluded Kinghorn, then slipped out of trouble when Rowe, Jordan and Matt Fagerson came to him. It was like he was slathered in butter.

A penalty, a lineout, a try for Max Llewellyn. Murrayfield silent, apart from the faint sound of sobbing.

The cameras turned to Russell who shook his head and looked like saying something beginning with F before the director cut away.

Scotland went to sleep, he said later. They switched off. The message all week, he stated, was to play for 80 minutes, but they didn’t. Again.

This team has a well-developed and debilitating trend of falling asleep in games. They didn’t score in the last 33 minutes on Saturday.

A fortnight ago they went an hour without scoring against England, against Ireland they didn’t score for 41 minutes and then 26 minutes. Against Italy, they went 33 minutes without a point.

This is repeat behaviour from Scotland. Last season threw up similar numbers and so did the season before.

It didn’t cost them this time, but it remains a puzzler as to why this keeps happening. Are they always going to have the propensity for napping during games?

It’s why we can admire many of the things this team does, but it’s very hard to trust them. We can marvel at their creativity, but elan alone is not cutting it at the sharp end of the championship.

And so to Paris against the mighty French. Scotland at their very, very best are unpredictable enough, and mad enough, to make it a scary day for Fabien Galthie.

Scotland are not a conventional team. They have players that could hurt France. They have a mindset that could cut them open and give them much to think about.

They don’t have a hang-up about the French the way they do against the Irish. Psychology won’t be a problem.

France will surely win – and maybe very comfortably – because on top of the flair in the backline they have monsters up front. Many, many monsters.

They have eight starters and possibly another seven on the bench. To hell, Fabien, go 8-0 and be done with it. Bring out every brute, from Perpignan to Picardy.

France won a seismic victory in Dublin and will feel invincible now. Scotland won a shaky one in Edinburgh and Lord only knows how they’ll be feeling.