Sonay Kartal has reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time.

In a wide-open portion of the ladies’ singles draw, the London-born 23-year-old didn’t panic as Diane Parry roared into a 3-0 lead on No.1 Court.

Kartal slowly but surely closed the gap before taking the first set 6-4; looking slightly flushed at her impressive recovery, she glanced at her opponent as the pair went to sit down after Parry had chipped a backhand return long.

Kartal lost only two more games after that and now faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last 16. 

Of Turkish descent through her father, Kartal is making a quiet name for herself as a relaxed but focused and driven competitor. With British attention falling largely on Emma Raducanu in the ladies' singles draw, Kartal is seemingly relishing flying under the radar.

If her past is anything to go by, she looks unlikely to get carried away with her success.

Since the age of six, Kartal has been coached by Julie Hobbs, who as Julie Pullin reached the second round of the Wimbledon ladies' doubles tournament in 2000.

On the WTA website, Kartal says her first memory of tennis was when she was brought on court to meet Hobbs. She fell over and was apparently too scared to try again. But she was persuaded to give it another go and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Ben Reeves has joined the coaching team and there is more assistance from outside, but Kartal still trains at the Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club in Hove on England’s south coast, where her family moved from Sidcup in London.

Even though she played many matches against Raducanu, Kartal admits she wasn’t the best junior, and so in the early days wasn’t funded by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) like many of her peers.

“I think when I was younger, I don't think I really deserved to have the funding, to be honest with you,” she said. “I think I was too inconsistent. I don't think my game was there. I was injured a lot of the time. No, I don't think I really deserved it at all.”

It is this brutal honesty and an ability to look deep inside for answers that seem to have pushed Kartal to a career-high ranking and a best-ever Grand Slam run.

“When I was growing up, I did quite a lot of tournaments on my own just 'cause I couldn't afford to pay a coach week in and week out, which I think was great” she recalled.

“It helped me develop as a teenager, grow up super fast, made me much more mature, hold myself accountable to a lot of things. My coaches back in the day, obviously I had them since I was six. They would charge me I guess the lowest fee and would try to help me out as much as possible.”

Since the age of 19, the LTA has given her assistance, and Kartal said it came at just the right time.

“Obviously the LTA helped me massively,” she said. “It was when I started to come on the scene and was putting together a few good wins consistently.

“They really helped to give me all the equipment and access to everything I needed to develop as well, which is obviously what has happened in the last few years. I think I've shot up the rankings. My game style really rocketed.”

Tennis is lucky to have her. In her younger years, the ultra-sporty Kartal had other options; as well as tennis, she was good at football and cricket.

“I was always a batter,” she recalled of her cricket days. “But I think I was only good because I was good at tennis. I would just whack it as far as I could, try to take like a backhand and just launch it out.

“But football I was always up front, always an attacker. I loved playing those sports. I'm a sporty kid. I love watching it as well. It was a tough decision to pick between all three as a young kid.

"The drive comes from myself," she added. "I'm super disciplined. I'm super determined. When I set my mind to something, I want to achieve it. I want to prove to myself that I can do it, as well. I'd say the drive is 100 per cent me.

"Growing up, my family was super supportive. They said whatever sport or whatever you want to take up, as long as you try 100%, we'll back you all the way. I think I was super lucky with that."

It turns out that Kartal could have been a baseball switch-hitter too. She’s ambidextrous (like Rafael Nadal, Jennifer Capriati, and several others), playing cricket and golf left-handed. 

Is there anything she can’t do?

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