Sonay Kartal has risen to become the new British number one after reaching the final of the Wuhan Open, completing a rapid resurgence just three tournaments into her return from a debilitating back injury.
The 24-year-old had been sidelined since March, when a stress fracture struck at Indian Wells while she was ranked 54th in the world. Kartal spent months recovering and only resumed competitive play less than a month ago, relying on a protected injury ranking to enter events during the Asian swing.
"In the first month or so, I was at home in bed - sometimes I had good days but there were also bad days where I wasn't really able to walk without some form of pain," Kartal said of her recovery period, recalling that she had initially struggled even to stand up and brush her teeth without severe pain.
At the WTA 1,000 tournament in Wuhan, Kartal defeated several elite competitors, including top-10 players and former Grand Slam champions, to reach the biggest final of her career. Although she was beaten by 22nd-ranked French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska after holding a lead of a set and a break, the performance marked the first appearance by a British player in a WTA 1,000 final since Johanna Konta in 2019. It also represented the best tour result by a British woman since Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021.
Reaching the final earned Kartal 650 ranking points, moving her past her previous standing and closer to her career-high mark of 44th, which she reached in July 2025 after making the fourth round at Wimbledon. The points gained mean Kartal will no longer require protected status to enter tournaments in 2027, including the Australian Open, giving her full control over her tournament schedule.
"My goal on the Asian swing was just to try to defend those points I had from last year and make the use of the protected ranking worthwhile," said Kartal, who also won two matches at the China Open in Beijing. "I think I've gone above and beyond that. The goal has been achieved this week and I'm in a good spot for the rest of the year and next year."
Following the final, Kartal credited her support team—coach Ben Reeves, fitness coach Ian Aylward, and physiotherapist Dani Gillanders—with steering her recovery and enabling her swift return to top-level competition.
