"The defeat ends the most significant tournament of Kartal's career to date as the 23-year-old Briton showed, with a series of excellent performances in one of the biggest events in the world, that she has the game to trouble the best players in the world, reaching her first WTA 1000 quarter-final with a superb three-set win over Mirra Andreeva, ranked No 5, for her first victory against a top-10 player."
"This match-up represented an opportunity for Kartal to put together an even deeper run, but the 21-year-old Czech is a well-regarded talent for a reason. The world No 27 demonstrated her clean, devastating shot-making abilities from the beginning, pounding the ball off both wings, forcing herself inside the baseline and confidently closing down the net as she dictated so many of the baseline exchanges."
Sonay Kartal's breakthrough run in Beijing ended with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Linda Noskova, who reached the China Open semi-final. Kartal, 23, had achieved her first WTA 1000 quarter-final after a three-set victory over Mirra Andreeva, ranked No 5, securing her first top-10 win. Noskova, 21 and world No 27, dominated with clean, devastating shot-making, pounding both wings, moving inside the baseline, and closing the net. Kartal counterpunched effectively with skidding backhand slices, passing shots, and heavy topspin forehands but could not match Noskova's greater ball speed and serving rhythm, including 79% first serves and four aces.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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