Brit blow: Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal slump out of US Open in quick succession

Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter once led Emma Raducanu in the rankings but the former US Open champion continues to be the only one standing with her compatriots going through a testing time in their respective careers. Both suffered early defeats on Tuesday.

Kartal came into the US Open suffering with a knee issue and since Wimbledon has been in no form at all. She suffered physically as she was beaten 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 against 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

In particular the deciding set was a bit of a bizarre affair as Kartal trail 3-0 before Haddad Maia also pulled up with cramp. Neither player looked really physically there. Haddad Maia lost serve for 3-1 and could barely walk but she recovered enough to seal the win. Kartal's knee continued to hamper her.

She had it strapped during Wimbledon back in July and it has continued to manifest itself as a problem and that has continued into the US Open as she fell early albeit after a promising time before she ended up cramping up.

It was a match also that marked Kartal's astonishing rise as it was her US Open debut but also she has not been in great form since a good run at SW19 which ironically saw the focus on her after the exit of many prominent names.

Boulter similarly has not had the rub of the green since Wimbledon and has only won one match since. She lost 6-4, 6-4 to Marta Kostyuk who herself is recovering from injury as of late.

Boulter while she has never reached the second week of a Grand Slam yet in her career has only lost twice in the first round of a Grand Slam. Kostyuk clinched her first win over the Briton having lost their previous meeting in the 2024 San Diego final.

Boulter had three break point chances in the final game of the second set before Kostyuk came back to seal the match at the sixth time of asking. Boulter drew level at 4-4 initially in the opening set but the serve let her down on the big occasions.

She hit a fourth double fault of the set after that to hand the advantage straight back. She did come back into it but again Kostyuk responded well with an ace and another big serve to see out the first set. The double faults continued with the three opening games of the second set seeing three breaks but Boulter faltered when she didn't need to. Kostyuk came back from five match points down on her serve at 5-3 and had Kostyuk there at 5-5. But the Ukrainian finally got over the line on her sixth match point.

“Coming back from 0-40, serving for the match, she had been on a roll and I really didn’t want to restart the set,” Kostyuk said after the win. “I’m really glad I could close it in two.

“That one (San Diego) was really tough. I was playing in a (WTA) 500 for the title, and I still remember that match. I feel like Katie was playing unbelievable that week; she beat some really good players. It’s a different day, different year, and everything changes quickly in tennis, so I’m glad I got that one.”

Boulter has a big end to the season coming as she was one of the best players on tour towards the back end and now will have to fight to defend her points. Many players such as Zheng Qinwen, Diana Shnaider among others and also Boulter ended the season so brightly and now have to fight to keep what they have and the Brit is one of those.

Ironically like alluded to Raducanu is one of the Brits who is not fighting as much now and has managed to continue to improve while Kartal and Boulter play catch up.