China Open 2026: Sonay Kartal clinches first WTA win in six months to reach second round in Beijing
• 2 minute read
Sonay Kartal marked her return to the WTA Tour with a confident straight-sets victory at the China Open, leading British success in Beijing alongside Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart.
Kartal needed just an hour and 14 minutes to beat Spanish qualifier Andrea Lazaro Garcia 6-2, 6-3 and move into the second round of the WTA 1000 event.
It marked a statement return to the tour for Kartal, who was playing her first tour-level tournament since retiring injured against Elena Rybakina in the fourth round at Indian Wells back in March.
After six months on the sidelines with a back injury, the 24-year-old returned to action at last week's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where she pushed world No.26 Marie Bouzkova to three sets - narrowly losing out on the win.
The Brighton-born star enjoyed a dream run to the quarter-finals in Beijing last year, where she beat Alycia Parks, Daria Kasatkina and Maya Joint before recording her career-best win over then world No.4 Mirra Andreeva to reach the last eight where she was eventually defeated by Linda Noskova.
Kartal looked comfortable from the outset on her return to the China National Tennis Centre - landing 69% of her first serves and converting five of her nine break point opportunities against the Spaniard.
With two match points in sight for Kartal, Lazaro Garcia produced her fourth double fault of the match to hand the Brit the victory. The impressive performance will undoubtedly provide Kartal with plenty of confidence heading into her next encounter against 31st seed Wang Xinyu.
Kartal will also be joined in the second round by British No.1 Boulter who opened her China Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama on Wednesday.
Wimbledon runner-up and world No.8 Karolina Muchova now awaits Boulter in the second round, with the Czech star seeded seventh in the tournament.
Boulter and Muchova are now set to play each other for a third time this year, with Muchova having won both of their previous two meetings at the Miami Open and US Open in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Dart fought through a testing opener against teenage wild card Qu Yihan, eventually prevailing 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in three hours.
With the 17-year-old serving for the chance to force a match-deciding tie-break, the British No.4 made her move - sealing a late break to wrap up the win and book her place in the second round.
There, she's set to face 10th seed Iva Jovic, who arrives full of confidence after successfully defending her WTA 500 title in Guadalajara a couple of weeks ago.
How to watch the China Open
You can watch all of the action from the 2026 China Open live and exclusively on Sky Sports Tennis and Now TV.
