Sonay Kartal: From Back Injury to British Number One
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Inside British number one Kartal's remarkable comeback
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Sonay Kartal has become the British number one for the first time in her career
By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport tennis news reporter
Published 13 minutes ago
Six months ago, Sonay Kartal could not stand up and brush her teeth without "being in agony". The pain caused by a stress fracture in her back eventually subsided, but the 24-year-old Briton still had a long road to full recovery ahead, requiring patience and hard work.
Kartal did not make her return to competitive action until under a month ago. But on Monday, she became the new British number one after an extraordinary week at the Wuhan Open, where she reached the biggest final of her career in just her third tournament back.
"In the first month or so, I was at home in bed - sometimes I had good days but there were also bad days where I wasn't really able to walk without some form of pain," Kartal said. "It was a slow process and it makes you think you do take every day things for granted a bit."
Given where Kartal was six months ago, and the length of time she was out injured, reaching the Wuhan final cannot be overstated as an achievement. As a WTA 1,000 event, it is in the tier of tournaments directly below the Grand Slams and attracts the strongest fields on the women's tour.
Kartal knocked out a series of opponents with considerable pedigree - including current top-10 players and former Grand Slam champions - before losing to this year's French Open runner-up, Maja Chwalinska, in the final.
Falling to a brutal defeat from a set and break up in the final will undoubtedly sting. However, Kartal quickly acknowledged the bigger picture is already more positive than she could have predicted.
Kartal was ranked 54th in the world when the back issue struck at Indian Wells in March and she used a protected injury ranking - given to players who have been out for six months or more - to compete in Wuhan. Earning 650 points as the runner-up means Kartal is already back above her previous ranking and now closing in on a career-high of 44th achieved in July 2025 after reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon.
And it is an example of the WTA's special ranking rule working as intended: providing a fair platform for a player to re-establish her position after a prolonged and unavoidable absence. Regaining her ranking just 10 matches into her comeback will have real significance for the 2027 season. Kartal will no longer need to use a protected ranking to enter tournaments including the Australian Open, meaning she can have greater choice over when and where to play as she continues to manage her workload.
"My goal on the Asian swing was just to try to defend those points I had from last year and make the use of the protected ranking worthwhile," said Kartal. "I think I've gone above and beyond that. The goal has been achieved this week and I'm in a good spot for the rest of the year and next year."
Kartal's re-emergence is timely too when considering the bigger picture...