The tattoo-mad British No 9 tasked with toppling Coco Gauff at Wimbledon

ANALYSIS Sonay Kartal has come through qualifying at Wimbledon and now has a ‘dream’ match-up against Coco Gauff to look forward to.

Twelve British tennis players received wild cards for this year’s singles at the Wimbledon Championships, but due to her ranking Sonay Kartal was not among them.

Eleven of those wild cards have since departed, but not the women’s British No 9, with Kartal not only reaching Wimbledon the hard way through qualifying but now into the third round, where No 2 seed Coco Gauff awaits on Friday.

“Those are the moments you dream of as a little kid,” Kartal said. “I think if I can continue my form, I’ll give myself a good chance, but it’s going to be a super tough match, there’s a reason why she is No 2 in the world.”

Brighton-based Kartal is just the second female British qualifier to make the third round here in the Open era, following in the footsteps of Karen Cross in 1997.

The 22-year-old had been awarded a wild card the previous two years at Wimbledon, losing in the opening round twice, and now having made it “third time lucky” in some style, the world No 298 is set to jump at least 100 places in the rankings and collect a minimum £143,000 in prize money.

“I think it’s going to help me for a little while,” Kartal said, having earned £223,000 during her career. “It will propel me into playing the bigger tournaments and be on the bigger stage, which is what I want to be doing.

“Obviously it takes a little bit of stress away knowing that financially it will be okay.”

Kartal puts her improvement down to a change physically, building strength during the Covid lockdowns “pretty significantly” to ensure it was no longer a “weakness”.

“I’d say that was the main thing,” she added. “I [also] think just [the] mentality of believing that I have high levels to reach. Just fully kind of believing in that, investing in that, and trusting that I’m going to have some losses, but the wins will follow shortly.”

Kartal has also overcome illness to get here, taking time away from the sport to focus on her health, which only makes this run at Wimbledon “even more special” for her and her close circle.

“The fact of the year I’ve had, it’s something that I’m super proud of. So much effort and time. It’s not like it was a waste, you know?” Kartal said.

“[My family] have dedicated their life for me to try and achieve a dream. I was pretty sporty as a kid, was doing football and cricket, as well.

“They’re the most relaxed parents you’ll probably ever meet. They never pushed me into doing anything, or even a sport. They just let me decide to do what I loved to do. As long as I gave it my best, they were going to back that 100 per cent.”

Kartal has several “random” tattoos but is particularly fond of one on her wrist, a symbol of bravery, having admitted she “wasn’t the best junior growing up”.

“I lost a lot of matches from playing too safe,” she added. “I kind of had enough of losing and was like, I need to change something. If I have it on my wrist, I can see it. It’s a little reminder at change of ends.”

And if she can beat Gauff, is another tattoo in the offing? “I think so. I think there will probably be a bet in place with my coach. He also has tattoos, he’s pretty covered. There’s always a joke in the slams that we play if I reach certain rounds there will be something.

“I think maybe despite the outcome, whatever it is, I think there could be one potentially.”