Sonay Kartal Misses Out on Wuhan Open Title After Final Loss

Britain's Sonay Kartal missed out on the biggest title of her career after losing the Wuhan Open final to Maja Chwalinska on Sunday, BBC News reported. Kartal lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 against the French Open runner-up. BBC News noted that the physical and mental effort of an extraordinary week seemed to catch up with the British player during the match. [1]

The 24-year-old was competing in only her third event since returning from a six-month absence caused by a back injury, according to BBC News and the Toowoomba Chronicle. The final was just the 10th match of her comeback, BBC News said. Kartal was bidding to become the first Briton to win a WTA 1,000 tournament. [1][4]

To reach the final, world number 170 Kartal battled past Jelena Ostapenko and defeated Elina Svitolina earlier in the tournament, Flashscore UK and The Shillong Times reported. [2][5]

Kartal is a British professional tennis player who reached a career-high singles ranking of world number 44 in July 2025. She has won one WTA Tour title and 14 ITF singles titles, and is the current British number three women's singles player. [6]