It was obvious from watching Sonay Kartal’s showdown with Coco Gauff at Wimbledon last year that she was set for a massive future in tennis.
That’s exactly why I tipped the British No.3 as my One to Watch at the start of the 2025 Championships, along with her unstoppable surge up the WTA rankings, rather than the likes of Emma Raducanu or Katie Boulter.
Kartal was No.298 in the world when she took on American world No.2 superstar Gauff last year, pushing her extremely hard in the first set.
Her power and precision makes her a true force on grass and I can remember myself – and a number of other journalists – being blown away by Kartal’s aggressive baseline play on that sunny afternoon on Court 1. It was from that moment that I knew we were looking at a future British No.1.
Gauff eventually showed her quality but it proved to be a valuable lesson for Kartal, who has got better and better since that third-round defeat, and is now the last British woman left in the Wimbledon singles after Raducanu and Boulter lost to Aryna Sabalenka and Solana Sierra respectively.
Kartal landed her first WTA Tour title at the Jasmin Open after her battle with Gauff and 2025 has seen the 23-year-old break into the world top 50.
Having reached the last 16 at Wimbledon this year, with a brilliant 6-4 6-2 victory over Diane Parry, here’s everything you need to know about Britain’s next big thing, who could genuinely become our next Grand Slam winner…
Who is Sonay Kartal?
Kartal, known for her love of fitness, first picked up a tennis racket at the age of six and idolised Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters in her youth. Her early years in tennis weren’t easy as a number of injury problems halted her progress but she never stopped believing she was on the right path.
‘I played football and cricket as well as a kid [but] I think once I committed to tennis, I always felt like tennis was the one,’ Kartal explained.
‘I always felt like I was slightly different as a player to most players at the time that I was growing up with. I had a lot of belief. I had good people around me that really backed me and said that I just needed a good run, I could have a breakout year. So tennis, despite me being sidelined for years on and off, was still always the goal for me.’
Usually donning a boxy polo shirt and long shorts with her tattoos – Kartal isn’t what you’d expect a stereotypical women’s tennis player to look like – and doesn’t have the pristine aesthetic widely seen on the WTA Tour.
It’s refreshing. There’s something quite Billie Eilish-esque about the way she dresses and presents herself. She’s a little unique and perhaps more relatable for some young girls.
After competing on the ITF Circuit in 2021, Kartal made her WTA Tour debut the following year before being handed a Wimbledon wildcard.
Her breakthrough came at Wimbledon 2024, becoming Britain’s first female qualifier to reach the third round in 27 years at the All England Club.
Kartal is notably strong – both physically and mentally – and is able to use deep, penetrating groundstrokes to control rallies during her matches.
Due to her strength, her biggest weapon is her forehand, which allows Kartal to dictate points, especially on a grass court where the play is faster.
‘Sonay Kartal has strong legs and a good slice’
Former Wimbledon finalist and tennis coach Olga Morozova spoke exclusively to Metro about Kartal’s best attributes earlier this summer.
‘All the British girls know grass much better than anyone else because they started playing on it earlier than others,’ Morozova said.
‘Kartal is doing very, very good this year. She is strong physically, great legs and she has a good slice which works well on grass.’
How Sonay Kartal reached the last 16
Kartal stunned 20th-seed and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in her opening match at Wimbledon this year.
The British world No.51 then followed that up with straight-set wins over Bulgarian world No.111 Viktoriya Tomova and French world No.118 Parry.
Speaking ahead of her next match, a last-16 battle with Russian world No.50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kartal explained how she had learnt lessons from that Wimbledon clash with Gauff 12 months ago.
‘I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous walking out there,’ Kartal said after her win over Parry, in which she was 4-1 down in the first set at one point.
‘It’s a big court with a match that has a lot of meaning to me. Obviously last year, that was also in the back of my mind, losing to Coco on the same court in the same round.
‘I tried to take everything I learnt from that match and put it into play on the court. Tried to relax as best as I could. Having been 4-1 down, I just tried to get back on the scoreboard one by one.
‘I think last year’s match helped me a lot. I think I left that court last year feeling like I didn’t play my best level [in the second set] because of the nerves I was carrying.’
Seeds continue to tumble in Sonay Kartal boost
For those of you believing it’s too farfetched to think Kartal can genuinely land the Venus Rosewater Dish, I’d like to politely remind you that last year’s Wimbledon women’s singles champion was very much unseeded.
There are also less top players that Kartal will need to deal with should she continue to progress at the tournament. Second-seed Gauff and world No.3 Jessica Pegula crashed out in the first round, as did fifth-seed Zheng Qinwen and world No.9 Paula Badosa to blow the draw wide open.
Jasmine Paolini, seeded fourth and last year’s runner-up, lost in the second round while world No.6 Madison Keys was eliminated in the third round.
It means Kartal has a massive opportunity – and she’s ready for whoever is left standing in her way.
‘I’m super determined,’ Kartal added. ‘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.’