Sonay Kartal’s run at the Queen’s Club came to an end on Wednesday as she was sent packing by “unplayable” No.8 seed Amanda Anisimova. The British No.3 is still getting used to playing the top players at the biggest events after enjoying a breakthrough over the last year.
Kartal came to Queen’s off the back of winning her first match at the French Open, where her sister, Louise, came to watch her in action. During their time in Paris, the siblings even got matching tattoos, but the world No. 50 was forced to get whatever Louise wanted – and she obliged.
While competing at Roland Garros, Kartal revealed she had to rebook a tattoo appointment that clashed with her first-round doubles match with Jodie Burrage.
“I’m not actually sure what I’m going to get. I know [my sister] wants to get one, as well, so she’s booked it. I think she wants matching, so I’ll get whatever she wants,” the 23-year-old said at the time.
Kartal went on to lose in the second round of both the singles and doubles, and finally got inked once her run was over. Now back on home soil for the grass season, she has revealed her latest tattoo – a bumblebee.
But it holds no real significance for the Brit, who admitted she was at her sister’s mercy.
Smiling, Kartal explained: “I wish it did [have meaning], but I gave her the choice. She said, ‘Will you get a tattoo with me?’ I said yeah.
“Came off after my first match and she had got the bumblebee. So I had to hold my word, and yeah, I went in the end of the week to get that one.”
The bumblebee was something of a lucky charm for Kartal when she first arrived at Queen’s for the new WTA 500 event as she earned her career-best win over world No. 16 Daria Kasatkina in the first round on Monday.
But she couldn’t repeat her heroics against Anisimova in round two. Ranked one spot higher at No. 15, the American raced into a 4-0 lead in just 15 minutes and went on to win 6-1 6-3.
Kartal later said: “She didn’t do too much wrong in that one. She has kind of one-game style, and that’s to hit the ball pretty flat and into the corners. I think when she has a day like today, she’s unplayable.
“Yeah, credit to her for that match. You know, can probably count on one hand how many unforced errors she made. So yeah, she was very good today.
“With her game style, she hits a big ball. Yeah, she can rush me, give me not a lot of time on the ball. It’s harder to kind of play my game style when she’s just going one corner to the next.
“So, yeah, I didn’t really get a chance to kind of play my own game, but that was all her doing. She brought the match straight to me from the first point.”
Kartal is still taking the positives from her week at Queen’s and will now be in action in Nottingham and Eastbourne before Wimbledon.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk