Kartal dumps Andreeva as China breakthrough continues

British outsider Sonay Kartal earned the biggest win of her career on Wednesday with a 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 upset of fourth seed Mirra Andreeva to reach the China Open quarter-finals.

The winner ranked 81st will play a last-eight match for the first time since winning a minor title a year ago.

Kartal is the first Brit to get this far in Beijing since Johanna Konta nine years ago.

“The way I carry myself on the court is one of my biggest assets, I think,” Kartal said. “You can look down the other end of the court and you won’t really know if I’m winning or losing.

“I just tried to put that (losing) second set behind me – she played some great tennis. I just tried to level it out in the third set and keep the scoreboard pressure as far as I could.”

Kartal said that keeping her emotions hidden was the key to the uspet.

“I tried to be super unpredictable. I was aware of what she was going to try and do, how she was going to try and attack my game style.

“I just tried to be super unpredictable and in big moments play brave tennis …I was accepting that this match might not go my way, but at least I’m going to play the way I need to play to get the wins later on.”