20-year-old Sonay Kartal will be in the main draw at the Surbiton Trophy after enjoying a stellar year that has included four wins in ITF World Tour W25 tournaments that have been part of the LTA’s expanded Performance Competitions Calendar. Those victories have propelled Kartal’s WTA ranking from No.865 at the start of this year to her current position of No.284.

“It has been a great year for me and I have already surpassed my initial targets,” said Kartal.

“At the start of 2022, I wanted to try and crack the top 500, but I did that quicker than expected. Then I moved into the top 300 and now I want to make more strides forward. The prospect of getting wild cards to play in the LTA’s grass courts events this summer gives me a chance to continue my momentum.”

Kartal will be joined in the main draw for the Surbiton Trophy by Lily Miyazaki, who made her WTA singles main draw debut at the Lyon Open in February after battling through qualifying.

Beth Grey has also been awarded a wild card after some good form this year saw the 26-year-old win her first ITF World Tour W25 tournament last December, while she also reached the semi-finals of a W25 tournament in Portugal earlier this month. 

The final wild card for the women’s draw at the Surbiton Trophy has been awarded to Jodie Burrage, who is on the LTA’s Pro Scholarship Programme, the highest level of support for players aged 16-24. Burrage has been in good form on the ITF World Tour and is currently sitting at No.260 in the WTA rankings.

The British quartet will be joined in the Surbiton Trophy by compatriots Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter, who gained direct entry into the main draw.

There will also be strong British representation in the men’s draw for the ATP Challenger event in Surbiton, with former two-time Wimbledon champion Murray and rising star Draper, set to compete alongside Liam Broady, Jay Clarke and three wild card selections that have been awarded to Paul Jubb, Ryan Peniston and Alastair Gray.

British Davis Cup player and LTA Colour Holder Broady, 28, came through qualifying to reach the first round of the Australian Open in January, while he also made it through to the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells in March.

Clarke, 23, will also be in the main draw at Surbiton won the third ATP Challenger title of his career in Mexico and lifted his current ATP rankings to No.163, with the wildcards now confirmed.

Jubb, who is also the LTA’s Pro Scholarship, was awarded a wildcard after a fine year that included a maiden ATP Challenger win in Bolivia in March.

Peniston has been awarded a wild card after reaching the final of an ATP Challenger in the Czech Republic last month and the third wildcard has been awarded to Gray, who is on the LTA’s Men’s and Women’s Support programme.

“It’s great to have more depth of players to pick from when we are selecting the wild card picks for the LTA’s summer grass court tournaments,” said Leon Smith, Head of Men’s Tennis at the LTA.

“We feel Paul, Ryan and Alastair deserve their chance to play in the Surbiton Trophy after some impressive form in 2022 and it will be exciting to see many British players take to the grass courts and make the most of these opportunities in the next few weeks.”