Sonay Kartal wins first WTA title at the Jasmin Open
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22-year-old Sonay Kartal has won her first WTA title at the Jasmin Open with a straight sets win over world No.136 Rebecca Sramkova.
Competing in her first WTA 250 final, the young Brit beat the Slovakian 6-3, 7-5 to become the 12th British woman to lift a WTA singles trophy.
“Right now it’s unbelievable,” Kartal said after the final. “I’ve had such a great week, played some of my best tennis and had some of my best wins. I feel like each match I’ve grown and got better.
“Today I was super nervous, I had a big lead in second set and didn’t close it out so I was glad to get it finished before I started stressing out. I tried so hard to put the occasion aside and treat it like any match.
“I started the year with a goal of being top 150 so I’ve past that. I want to put myself in the best position for Australia at the start of the year.”
Kartal came into the tournament ranked as the world No.151 and had never reached a WTA quarter-final in her career.
It follows an excellent few months for the British No.4, having reached the third round at Wimbledon in July, winning back-to-back titles at the Lexus GB Pro Series Roehampton and now capping it off with the Jasmin Open trophy.
She is the second British player to win a WTA title after Katie Boulter claimed the crown at the San Diego Open and the Rothesay Open Nottingham.
The British star will rise into the top 100 tomorrow, becoming the 21st GB woman to crack the WTA Top 100 since 1975 and the ninth in the last 10 years.
Kartal started her campaign in Monastir as a qualifier before going on to beat fifth seed Jacqueline Cristian, Mai Hontama, Yuliia Starodubtseva and Eva Lys en route to the final – dropping just one set on the way.
The young Briton broke Sramkova seven times in the final to wrap up the victory in two hours.
