Until recently, Kartal’s claim to fame was a 43-second video on the LTA’s YouTube channel, of her as a nine-year-old sparring with Emma Raducanu.
The 19-shot point the video depicts (which Kartal won with a forehand down the line) has nearly 800,000 views.
When Kartal coolly won her third-round match at the All England Club earlier this week, her name was trending on Google search above Donald Trump.
Not to mention the £400,000 in prize money she would be guaranteed – more than half of her current career earnings.
Britain’s Sonay Kartal celebrates beating Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (Photo: AFP)
Even through that success, the reality is that she remains somewhat of an unknown to the average British sport fan tuning in to Wimbledon.
A contemporary and friend of 2021 US Open champion Raducanu, she played against her as a junior, but juggled cricket and football alongside her tennis until she was 13.
She initially pushed her way up the WTA ladder via second-tier tournaments, but the last year in particular has been transformational.
Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal playing together when they were younger Now they're playing at the same time as each other on #Wimbledon Centre Court and Court One pic.twitter.com/95qa49LhOq
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 5, 2024“When I was making my first kind of appearance on the [WTA] tour, you know, I was hearing people were saying, ‘Do you think you should get a coach that was already done that?’ But I didn’t want that at all,” Kartal said, referring to Reeves.
“We took different opinions and took advice from the other Brits that have done it. We both just learned together and [are] kind of doing this crazy thing together.”
At 5ft 4in and of an athletic build, she does not have your typical tennis frame: “I think now it’s a lot of girls are getting more comfortable with having more muscle on their body and things like that, and I think that’s turning, which is obviously incredible.
“You look at the tennis players, everyone’s all different physiques and sizes and heights. It’s definitely getting more versatile, but if I can inspire kids, whether that’s boys, girls, whatever, I think I can do that then obviously doing something good.”
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“Lockdown happened, I had nothing to do. I turned to it as a bit of an escape. I just completely changed the way I viewed it. I absolutely loved it.
With this Wimbledon run, she admits that she might need to consider a gym change due to her new status.
“I do think I’ll have to move. But to be honest they were actually pretty respectful there, like they would just say hello and then just let me get on with it. So maybe I’ll have to test that when I’m back.”
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