Wuhan, Oct 17 (IANS) World No. 170 Sonay Kartal continued her remarkable run at the Wuhan Open on Saturday, saving six set points to beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and reach her first WTA 1000 final, where she will face Poland’s Maja Chwalinska.
Kartal recovered from a 4-1 deficit in both sets to defeat Latvia’s Ostapenko 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5), while Chwalinska upset compatriot and former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 in the other semifinal.
The Briton, who spent nearly six months away from the tour after retiring injured at Indian Wells in March, has enjoyed an extraordinary comeback in Wuhan.
She had already beaten ninth-seeded Belinda Bencic, 15th-seeded Jasmine Paolini and fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina before overcoming Ostapenko in two closely contested tiebreaks, reports Xinhua. “Today was a dream come true. I’ve been shooting to get this far in one of these events for a very long time and to be able to do it this fast after so long out,” Kartal said.
Despite entering the tournament as a significant underdog, Kartal said she had maintained high expectations of herself throughout the week.
“In every match, I’ve kind of been the underdog in this event. I think the only pressure is kind of the pressure that I’m putting on myself,” she said. “Regardless of how long I spent out, I still expect to offer a good performance and am very proud of what I’ve managed to achieve this week.”
Chwalinska, 24, also reached her first WTA 1000 final with an impressive victory over Swiatek, although the former world No. 1 appeared to struggle with a leg injury during the match.
Trailing 5-3 in the opening set, Chwalinska saved two set points before fighting back to level at 5-5.
Swiatek subsequently took a medical timeout for treatment on her leg and was visibly emotional as she received attention. She appeared hampered by the injury upon returning to the court, with Chwalinska taking advantage to close out the opening set before dominating the second.
The victory marked Chwalinska’s first career win over a top-10 opponent and continued her breakthrough season, which included a surprise run to the French Open final.
–IANS
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