Fit-again Sonay Kartal beats Anhelina Kalinina at Wuhan Open

Sonay Kartal beat Anhelina Kalinina 7-5 6-3 at the Wuhan Open on 12 October 2026 to reach the tournament's second round. The victory continued Kartal's return to form after a lengthy lay-off with a stress fracture in her back.

Sonay Kartal has slipped to 170th in the world rankings after her back injury. The British number five had played her first WTA tournament for six months earlier this month, reaching the third round in Beijing. She returned to action last month for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup, where she narrowly lost to Czech Marie Bouzkova, who sat 26th in the world rankings.

Kartal defeated Ukraine's Kalinina 7-5 6-3 in an hour and 31 minutes at Wuhan. The 24-year-old followed her Beijing run with this straight-sets win to advance at Wuhan.

Against world number 48 Kalinina, Kartal served four aces and won 23 of 30 points when landing her first serve. She sealed her spot in the last-32 stage at the third time of asking after Kalanina saved two match points.

Earlier in Beijing, Kartal recorded wins over Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia and Wang Xinyu before she lost to Armenia's Alina Charaeva. Those results formed part of her recent sequence of matches since returning from the stress fracture.

Zheng Qinwen withdrew from her home tournament in Wuhan after becoming the first Chinese player to win the China Open. In a statement, Zheng said she would not be competing because her "body is feeling very fatigued" after "an intense run of matches"; Zheng underwent elbow surgery last year and had struggled with form and fitness over the past 12 months, before a recent upturn led to her triumph in Beijing.

Kartal will face Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in her next match.