British tennis player Sonay Kartal secured one of the most notable victories of her comeback by defeating ninth seed Belinda Bencic at the Wuhan Open. The 24-year-old triumphed in straight sets, winning 6-0, 7-5 against her Swiss opponent to advance to the third round of the tournament.
Kartal reached a career-high ranking of 44 last year following a strong run at Wimbledon, where she advanced to the fourth round. However, her progress was halted in March when she suffered a stress fracture in her back. The injury sidelined her for six months and forced her to miss three of the season's major championships, causing her ranking to drop to 170th in the world.
Before the physical setback, Kartal had been displaying strong form on the circuit. Her notable early-season results included victories against American players Emma Navarro and Madison Keys at Indian Wells. Her momentum was interrupted during that event when she was forced to retire from her third-round match against Elena Rybakina due to the back problem.
Kartal returned to competitive action last month representing Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Since then, she has transitioned back to the WTA Tour with positive results, winning four of her first five matches. Last week, she reached the third round of the Beijing Open by defeating Chinese player Wang Xinyu, and she opened her campaign in Wuhan with a win over Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina.
With the victory over Bencic, Kartal moves forward to the next stage of the tournament. She will face either Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini or 20-year-old Czech player Nikola Bartunkova for a spot in the quarter-finals.
In other tournament action, former world number one Iga Swiatek also advanced to the next round. The Polish star secured her 40th victory of the season by defeating compatriot Magdalena Frech in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC Sport. Read the original report at BBC Sport.
