Sonay Kartal (born 28 October 2001) is a British professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 44 in singles, achieved on 14 July 2025, and No. 171 in doubles, achieved on 5 January 2026. Kartal has won one WTA Tour title and 14 ITF titles, all in singles. She is the current British No. 2 women's singles player.
Kartal was born in Sidcup, London, and lives in the city of Brighton and Hove. She is of Turkish descent through her father. She attended Saltdean Primary School and Longhill High School.
She began playing tennis at the age of six after watching her older brother play. She currently trains at Pavilion & Avenue tennis club in Hove. Her favourite tennis players are Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters.
2021–22: WTA Tour and major debuts
Kartal won her first ITF title in November 2021, at the Antalya 15k event, beating Amarissa Toth in the final. This was shortly followed by her second title (and her first on hardcourt) at Monastir $15k, defeating former world No. 40, Ayumi Morita, in the final.
Kartal won the women's title at the 2021 UK Pro League with a straight sets win over Freya Christie in the final. She ended 2021 ranked 993.
She followed up her success in late 2021 early in the 2022 season, winning her third title at the 25k Birmingham event with a three-sets win over compatriot Talia Neilson Gatenby. She won a second consecutive 25k title in Glasgow, beating Barbora Palicová.
Kartal was part of the BJK Cup team for the qualifying tie in April 2022 when Great Britain faced the Czech team in Prague. However, she was not selected to play any matches.
In May 2022, she won two consecutive singles titles in the third and fourth weeks of the 25k Nottingham events, beating Danielle Lao and Joanna Garland in the finals.
During the grass-court season, Kartal defeated Lily Miyazaki in the first round at the 2022 Surbiton Trophy, before falling in the second round to top seed Madison Brengle. She made her WTA Tour debut as a wildcard entrant at the 2022 Nottingham Open, where she lost in the first round to Camila Giorgi. At the 2022 Ilkley Trophy, she reached her first semifinal at 100k level, losing in two tiebreakers to compatriot Jodie Burrage.
Kartal was awarded wildcard entry into the main-draw at the Wimbledon Championships, where she made her major debut, losing in the first round to lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in three sets.
In October, she posted a quarterfinal result at the W60 indoor event in Trnava, losing to the second seed Vitalia Diatchenko. The following week at the W60 Trvana 2, she upset third seed Daria Snigur in the first round, but was forced to retire from her second-round match due to injury. However, these performances allowed Kartal to make her top-200 debut and she ended the year ranked as world No. 198, almost 800 places above her 2021 year-end ranking.
2023–2024: Wimbledon third round, WTA Tour title, top 100
At the 2023 Australian Open, Kartal lost in three sets to 21st seed Elizabeth Mandlik in the first qualifying round.
As a wildcard player, Kartal entered the W60 event in Sunderland, England, falling to former top-30 player Mona Barthel in the quarterfinals.
In June 2024, ranked No. 295, she qualified for the first time at the Wimbledon Championships, earning a spot in the main draw, having received wildcards in the previous two editions. She defeated 29th seed Sorana Cirstea and world No. 45, Clara Burel. She became the second British woman in the Open Era to reach the third round at this Major as a qualifier, and first since Karen Cross in 1997. She lost her third round match to second seed Coco Gauff, going down in straight sets.
In August 2024, Kartal lifted back-to-back W35 GB Pro Series trophies on hardcourts in Roehampton, England, her fourth and fifth titles at that level in the season.
The following month, ranked No. 151, having made it through qualifying, she reached the first WTA Tour quarterfinal in her career at the 2024 Jasmin Open in Monastir, upsetting fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian, her third top 100 win of 2024, and Mai Hontama. Next, she defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets, and then Eva Lys in the semifinals by retirement, to reach her maiden WTA Tour final. In the final, Kartal defeated Rebecca Šramková in straight sets. As a result, she broke into the top 100, rising 55 positions up to a new career-high of world No. 96 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time in her career.