Britain's Sonay Kartal secured a winning return to the WTA Tour on Thursday after nearly six months away from competition due to injury, defeating Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia 6-2 6-3 at the China Open in Beijing.
The 24-year-old sustained a pars stress fracture that kept her sidelined for six months, with the injury occurring at Indian Wells in March. Her comeback to competitive tennis came on 22 September at the Billie Jean King Cup, where she narrowly fell to Czech world number 26 Marie Bouzkova.
Kartal's performance in Beijing demonstrated her readiness to compete at the highest level. She broke Lazaro Garcia's serve on five occasions, capitalizing on four double faults from her opponent, while maintaining a first-serve percentage of 69%. The dominant display marked a significant step forward in her recovery journey.
Kartal described the first three months of her recovery as slow before her progress accelerated, allowing her to return to the court with confidence. Her victory came after an impressive run at Indian Wells prior to her injury, where she defeated Madison Keys and Emma Navarro before retiring against Elena Rybakina, later describing the stretch as "one match too many".
What's next for Kartal?
World number 129 Kartal will face Chinese 31st seed Wang Xinyu in the second round on 2 October 2026 as she works to rebuild her ranking following her extended absence from the tour.
Other British results
Fellow Briton Cameron Norrie suffered defeat at the China Open, losing 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 to US Open champion and world number two Alexander Zverev. Harriet Dart was also scheduled to compete later on Thursday.
In Tokyo, British number one Arthur Fery fell 6-4 3-6 6-4 to Portuguese lucky loser Jaime Faria in the Japan Open first round.
Rune's difficult return
Denmark's Holger Rune also struggled on his first ATP Tour appearance in nearly a year. The former world number four, who tore his Achilles tendon in October 2025 and has since dropped out of the top 100, was defeated 6-3 6-1 by France's Kyrian Jacquet in Tokyo.
