Sonay Kartal was one of British tennis' rising stars — what happened?

British tennis was in a very strong position halfway through 2025. With Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu playing a starring role, one of the less-mentioned cast names happened to be Sonay Kartal who was quietly going about her business. Breakthrough wins and new heights were being recorded, but now in 2026 she is an almost forgotten name, leading many to wonder where this form has gone. A year ago, Sonay Kartal was one of the biggest emerging names in British tennis. Now, she has slipped to No.124 and hasn't played a match since March. So what happened?

The Brighton talent was a familiar name in the British tennis scene, always down the pecking order compared to the Raducanu's and Katie Boulter's making moves higher up the WTA Rankings. Kartal bided her time and with more experienced gained on the big stage had started to make a huge impression.

Kartal reached No.44, reached the Wimbledon fourth round, made a WTA 1000 quarter-final, beat Mirra Andreeva — and now she's ranked 124th and hasn't played since March because of a back injury. However, a cruel turn has made this the last time the 24-year-old has been in action on the WTA Tour. A back injury has halted and eradicated any sort of progress that has been made, leaving her back at square one with an uphill battle to stay competitive in this harsh sport she competes in.

As she battles her physical problems, the rest of the WTA Tour continues to motor away. Her ability has never been doubted for a second. But at the end of the day, the biggest attribute you can have in sport is your health. No matter how good you are, your potential can be left unfulfilled if your body does not let you participate. That could be what we are seeing with Kartal as her career trajectory takes a downward spiral.

Kartal's WTA breakthrough would not come until 2024, but she did manage some success away on the ITF Circuit. She had won four titles from five finals ahead of her first ever Billie Jean King Cup call-up. While she did not play, being with fellow British talents while representing her country was an honour in itself and laid the stepping stones she would need to traverse to reach these heights

Her impenetrable form in the ITF continued with more consecutive titles being won in Nottingham in May 2022. She would earn a first Wimbledon wildcard this year but could not capitalise on this precious opportunity, losing at the first hurdle to lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove.

Her aspirations were clear from the off. A failed qualifying attempt at the US Open was the start of three consecutive failures at Q1 in before she earned a shot at Wimbledon in 2023 via this qualifying route. The progression was obvious. After starting the year in 993rd, she debuted in the top 200 to end 2022.

Another two ITF titles were earned in 2023, but the injury problems began. She picked up a problem in October and was sidelined for the rest of the year. In contrast, on her return she began with a title. This shows while her injury issues does have a major affect, when she is playing she is a lethal athlete.

Her health took another turn for the worst weeks later when she was taken to hospital needing scans. "I had the worst start to a year which I could have imagined," she previously said. "You don't really appreciate the feeling of being healthy until you're in that position of being in control of it. 100%, it changed my outlook."

Out until April, she came back to winning ways on the ITF Circuit before another crack at Wimbledon. Again successfully qualifying, she became only the second Brit in the Open Era to reach the third round of a major event as a qualifier. A month later, her tennis career would change forever.

Another successful qualifying stint entered her in the main draw of the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia. Storming past the competition, including the fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian, she defeated Rebecca Sramkova for the biggest title of her career to date. She came into the tournament ranked 151st in the world, but would rise a whopping 55 places to 96th, debuting in the top 100 which opened all sorts of opportunities.

It was not just that. Her ranking rise and title triumph in Tunisia got her all sorts of headlines, making her a more notable name among the British ranks and earned her a lot more recognition. Still only 22, this was just the beginning.

In the first few months of 2025, she qualified for her first Grand Slam outside of England, the Australian Open, while also making her WTA 1000 debut at Indian Wells. In California, she bounced back on a bit of luck after entering as a lucky loser. Qualifier Varvara Lepchenko was dealt with before a first top 20 win coming against Beatriz Haddad Maia caused a stir. Polina Kudermetova was soundly defeated before running into the World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. Kartal had met her match, but still 20 places thanks to a run to the last-16 had placed her 63rd. Not bad for a tournament she did not even qualify for!

Another prize for this was making her Billie Jean King Cup debut in qualifiers against Germany. She helped her country qualify for the Finals in Shenzhen where she would make an impact enroute to a semi-final defeat against the USA.

Before all of that, there was more Grand Slam joy to experience. It was almost the perfect Roland Garros debut, dropping just two games against Erika Andreeva for a first major win away from Wimbledon. She then had to match her third round run from the prior year to prevent a ranking drop. She relished the pressure, and bettered it for her best Grand Slam run to this date. At SW19, the 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko was the highlight of the wins enroute to the fourth round. She would have fancied herself against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but lost in straight sets. Another landmark was broken. Up to 44th in the world, this is the highest in the WTA rankings Kartal has ever clambered to.

Following a quick US Open debut, Kartal again showed what she was all about at the China Open. Now an established WTA player, she took down Alycia Parks, Daria Kasatkina and Maya Joint without even dropping a set. Her first top 10 win would come in the form of Mirra Andreeva. The fourth seed was toppled before eventual runner-up Linda Noskova kept her at bay. A huge statement of intent by the then 23-year-old who confirmed a maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final. Thanks to the points coming off from the title won in Tunisia, she had to settle in 60th following the conclusion to the action in Beijing. Matching Raducanu and Boulter's combined total, Kartal also convincingly pipped them to LTA Player of the Year.

As the saying goes, what must go up must come down. All tennis players will have their peaks and low points. For Kartal, her premature rise has since been undone by a 2026 campaign that had much promise but since pushed her out of the spotlight.

The British number two, she was hunting down Raducanu ahead of her. Quarter-finals in Auckland and Abu Dhabi were good starts with another first round defeat at the Australian Open a small blow. In a familiar trend, Kartal then found more good form at Indian Wells. American seeds Emma Navarro and Madison Keys were stunned by the impressive Brit who set her sights on Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.

After relinquishing the first set against the number two seed despite a brief fightback, Rybakina broke to make it 4-3 in the second and seemingly closing in on the win. Her job was made easier with Kartal retiring with a back problem.

That is the last time Kartal has competed on the WTA Tour. The 11th March is a long time ago, and a lot has happened since. Now the British number four, Kartal can now be found in 124th in the world. This could get worse with those China Open points soon to be on the line. The solution: to get fit and playing again. However, it is not that simple. Back injuries are notoriously hard to come back from, normally needing a lot of rest and recovery to be up to speed once more.

Labelling it as the 'toughest challenge in my career so far' Kartal now finds herself seemingly back at the beginning. In a tough time for British tennis, it seems that her story has been slightly overshadowed after a very noticeable rise through the ranks. Her next target is to be ready for the US Open, but even then with no tennis played since March it could be a step too far.

It is not talent that has put Kartal where she currently is. A last-16 run at Indian Wells as her most recent expedition on court should not be something to downplay. There is a quality tennis player in there who has the attitude and mentality to match it, not afraid of who she is playing. Whether Kartal rises back to those prior heights all depend on her fitness. As cruel as it sounds, fitness is the number one attribute in sport and if she cannot do this, then it is a huge blow for British tennis.

Kartal has already shown that her rise was no fluke. The wins over top players, the Wimbledon run and the WTA 1000 quarter-final all happened. The question now is whether she can get her body right and give herself another chance to build on them.