Sonay Kartal continued her impressive Wimbledon journey by reaching the fourth round for the first time in her career with a confident 6-4, 6-2 win over France’s Diane Parry. The British No 3 delivered a composed and aggressive performance, booking a place in the last 16 where she will face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Kartal, who hails from Brighton, becomes just the fourth unseeded British woman to reach this stage at SW19 in the 21st century, following in the footsteps of Laura Robson, Emma Raducanu, and Heather Watson. Her rise has been rapid—this time last year she was ranked 259th in the world, but she now sits at No 51 and could move higher if her form continues.
Taking to No 1 Court, Kartal came out swinging, immediately applying pressure on Parry’s serve and showing early intent with a fierce overhead smash. Although Parry responded with clever net play and broke early, Kartal gradually settled and began to assert control. A key turning point came as Kartal began targeting Parry’s second serve and capitalizing on her opponent’s growing error count.
Having fallen behind 4-1 in the first set, Kartal regrouped and began to dictate rallies. Her groundstrokes gained in precision and depth, and she started to match Parry’s net forays with clever placement and variety. Her composure under pressure showed as she reeled off five straight games to take the first set, aided by Parry’s increasing unforced errors and double faults.
Kartal’s confidence surged in the second set. She broke Parry in the opening game and held serve to stretch her run to nine consecutive games. Although Parry managed to stop the bleeding with two service holds, Kartal maintained her focus. Serving for the match, she delivered with authority blasting a forehand winner, firing an ace, and sealing victory with an unreturnable serve.
It was a performance marked by resilience, tactical clarity, and a growing belief. The 23-year-old spoke of drawing lessons from her defeat to Coco Gauff at the same stage last year and credited that experience for helping her stay calm and focused on court.
Kartal, who has 14 tattoos and plans to commemorate her 2025 Wimbledon run with a new one, embodies both flair and grit. One of her tattoos reads, “The show must go on,” and her run certainly does, as she heads into her next match with the mindset of having nothing to lose.
“I’m going to go swinging,” she said, embracing the underdog role and the challenge of facing a seasoned opponent in Pavlyuchenkova. With momentum and home support on her side, Kartal’s Wimbledon story is far from over.
