Sonay Kartal Stuns Ostapenko In Wuhan To Make History As Lowest-Ranked Finalist

Sonay Kartal beats Ostapenko to reach first WTA 1000 final in Wuhan

World No.170 Sonay Kartal continued her fairytale comeback run at the Wuhan Open, saving five set points to edge past Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(11/9), 7-6(7/5) and become the lowest-ranked finalist in WTA 1000 history.

World No.170 Sonay Kartal becomes lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist...

Sonay Kartal fights past Jelena Ostapenko in Wuhan to reach first WTA 1000 final.

World No. 170 Sonay Kartal became the lowest-ranked player ever to reach a WTA 1000 final as she edged past Jelena Ostapenko with a gritty 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/5) victory at the Wuhan Open on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Briton is playing only her second tour event since returning from a six-month layoff, having been sidelined from March to September with a spinal stress fracture.

Kartal, who reached a career-high ranking of 44 some 15 months ago, is now the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist since the format was introduced in 2009.

WHAT A MOMENT 🤩 Sonay Kartal is into the final in Wuhan! #dongfengvoyahwuhanopen https://t.co/C6RyteZj9b

— wta (@WTA) October 17, 2026

In a tight contest with 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko, Kartal displayed huge composure and fought her way out of several difficult spots to become the first British finalist in Wuhan Open history.

“Wow, that was probably one of the toughest matches I have ever played,” said Kartal, who withstood 50 winners from Ostapenko's racquet to reach the biggest final of her career.

“I knew exactly how she was going to play. At times she is unplayable and sometimes you just have to ride that wave.”

After dispatching three consecutive seeds in her previous rounds, including No.6 Elina Svitolina and No.9 Belinda Bencic, Kartal made world No.35 Ostapenko her latest scalp to reach her second career tour-level final, and her first at WTA 1000 level.

Kartal overturned a double-break deficit in the opening set and saved two set points in the tiebreak to take a one-set lead after a gruelling 72 minutes.

She produced another impressive comeback in the second set, rallying from 1-4 down and saving three set points to book her place in the final against either Iga Swiatek or fellow qualifier Maja Chwalinska.