Who is Sonay Kartal? What to know of player who beat Jelena Ostapenko at Wimbledon
Well, that's not exactly it. But it is a saying that works when looking at how Sonay Kartal's fourth go-around in her "home Grand Slam" of Wimbledon.
After not finding a win in her previous three tries at The Championships at Wimbledon, Kartal has continued her breakout season with a breakthrough: a top-20 ranked victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.
She followed that up with a win against Viktoriya Tomova to advance past the second round. After all, fourth time's the charm, right?
Kartal continues her chase for her first Grand Slam title on July 4 against Diane Perry with the third round of competition in the women's singles tournament on Court No. 1 at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on Church Road in London.
Here's what to know about Kartal as the Wimbledon Championships continue:
REQUIRED READING: Where are line judges at Wimbledon? Why Grand Slam event moved to electronic system
Who is Sonay Kartal?
Sonay Kartal is a 23-year-old women's tennis player who is from the United Kingdom.
She opened up her fourth go-around at Wimbledon with quite the statement, as she came back to defeat Ostapenko for her third-ranked win of the season. Kartal's previous two ranked wins came against Moyuka Uchijima (then-No. 3 in the world) at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and Beatriz Haddad Maia (then-No. 16) at the BNP Paribas Open.
Noted by her WTA Tour player profile page, Kartal holds a record of 157-58 all-time and has earned $998,922 in prize money shares.
Sonay Kartal Wimbledon results 2025
Wimbledon is a combined 3-0 in the 138th edition of the Wimbledon Championships, with two wins in the women's singles tournament and a win in the women's doubles tournament alongside her teammate Jodie Burrage.
Here's how Kartal has fared in the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in singles matches:
Here's how Kartal has fared in the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in doubles matches:
REQUIRED READING: Where is Wimbledon played? Location for 138th Wimbledon Championships
Sonay Kartal national rankings
Noted by the official PIF WTA Rankings page, Kartal is ranked as the No. 51 women's singles player in the world. She is additionally ranked as the No. 389 women's doubles player.
Sonay Kartal age
Kartal is 23 years old. She will turn 24 on Oct. 28, 2021.
Sonay Kartal country
Kartal is a native of the United Kingdom. She lives in Sidcup, England, which is located on the southeast side of London.
REQUIRED READING: What surface is Wimbledon played on? What to know
Sonay Kartal Grand Slam history
Of the four Grand Slam events on the tennis calendar, Kartal has played Wimbledon the most. The 2025 Wimbledon Championship is the fourth time Kartal has played in the Grand Slam event at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
In Grand Slam singles matches this season, Kartal fell in the first round of the Australian Open and made it to the second round at Roland Garros.
Here's a full breakdown of Kartal's history in tennis' four Grand Slam events, per her Wimbledon player profile pages:
Note: Farthest round advancement in parentheses
Grand Slam singles
Grand Slam doubles
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
28 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Alcaraz and Djokovic could get early U.S. Open tests. Venus draws No. 11 seed Muchova
NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will face potential difficult American opponents when they begin their quest for another U.S. Open title. Venus Williams, meanwhile, returns to the event at age 45 against No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova, a past French Open finalist who has reached the semifinals in New York the past two years. That was one of the early highlight matches after the draws were conducted for the men's and women's singles tournaments. A pair of recent U.S. Open champions could be tested early. Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, starts against Reilly Opelka. Opelka, a former top-20 player before injuries, is 6-foot-11 with a powerful serve that he rode to the fourth round in New York in 2021. Alcaraz won his lone U.S. Open title the following year and has gone on to add four more Grand Slam titles. Djokovic owns a men's record 24 of them, including four at the U.S. Open. Seeded seventh, he will face Learner Tien, a 19-year-old left-hander who upset Daniil Medvedev en route to the fourth round of this year's Australian Open. Now playing infrequently outside of the majors at 38 and having fallen to No. 7 in the rankings, Djokovic could have to beat 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals, then Alcaraz in the semifinals and No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the defending champion, in the final. Williams was given a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association into a tournament where she won two of her seven Grand Slam singles titles, and will be the oldest player to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows since 1981. But she faces someone who has shown the ability to raise her game in the biggest tournaments. Muchova, after falling in the 2023 French Open final, got to the semis in New York later that summer and again last year. No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, who won her first major title in the 2023 U.S. Open, will first face Ajla Tomljanovic, the Australian who beat Williams' younger sister, Serena, in her final match in 2022. The potential quarterfinals on the men's side are Sinner vs. No. 5 Jack Draper, and No. 3 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 8 Alex de Minaur in the top half of the bracket. The bottom half could be Alcaraz vs. No. 6 Ben Shelton, and Fritz vs. Djokovic. The women's quarters could be defending champion and No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, and No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 5 Mirra Andreeva on the top half. The other side could see No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 8 Amanda Anisimova in a rematch of Swiatek's romp in the Wimbledon final, and Gauff vs. No. 6 Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Amid Accusations Of Using Ozempic And Wanting To Look Like A White Woman, Serena Williams Opened Up About Using Weight-Loss Meds
Serena Williams is speaking candidly about her struggle with weight and her decision to use weight-loss medication to "enhance everything" that she was already doing. The tennis star has been the topic of conversation recently due to the physical transformation she's been undergoing. Discussions escalated when Serena shared gym selfies on her Instagram in July, showing off chiseled abs, toned arms, and legs. Shocked by the change in her physical appearance, some people in the comments began accusing Serena of using Ozempic to help her achieve her new physique. Harsh reactions continued, the more the married mother of two continued to post, including with her most recent set of pictures, where users suggested this transformation was Serena's way of glorifying "European beauty standards." Related: Responses like this flooded her comment section: Despite all of the criticism about her looks, Serena didn't publicly respond to any of it until now. During a recent interview with People, Serena revealed she's been taking a GLP-1 weight-loss medication, along with exercising to achieve her current form, and has since lost over 31 pounds. 'I feel great,' Serena told People. 'I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.' She said her battle with her weight began after she gave birth to her first daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017, when her postpartum body arrived. 'I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be, no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained. It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy, and could never get down to where I needed to be at.' 'I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,' the 23-time Grand Slam champion said. 'So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.' Serena added that after having her second daughter, Adira River, in 2023, she was able to lose a lot of weight quickly — two weeks to be exact — but she remained stagnant after that and was unable to "lose another pound." Related: While the decorated Olympian has no problem maintaining a healthy lifestyle and workout regimen, she sought out help to lose the actual weight she couldn't seem to get rid of. For additional support, she began a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) treatment. Although Serena kept the name of the drug she's been using private, some popular brands include Ozempic and Mounjaro. 'I did a lot of research on it. I was like, 'Is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?' I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it. They were super supportive, and it was easy to get the medication. I lost over 31 pounds using my GLP-1, and I was really excited about that weight loss.' Serena began the weekly injections of the drug six months after Adira was born and around the time she stopped breastfeeding in early 2024. Since taking the drug, Serena revealed she's never felt better. 'I just can do more," Serena added. "I'm more active. My joints don't hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy, and it's great. I just feel pretty good about it.' 'GLP-1 helped me enhance everything that I was already doing — eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day. So I think that it's important for everyone to hear my story. And I feel like there's a lot of people that can relate.' Related: She said she's not trying to maintain a particular appearance, and believes there was nothing wrong with the size she was before. It just came down to what she actually wanted to look and feel like. 'I've never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,' she admits. 'I always felt comfortable at any size, whether I was a lot heavier or not. I do feel like my body didn't like me at that weight. I had pain in my joints and pain in different areas just because of the extra weight that I'm not used to carrying since I had children.' 'But the size I was before, there was nothing wrong with it. It's just not what I wanted to have,' she continues. 'I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable.' Serena wants to continue to have conversations with her young daughters about body positivity and body image. 'With me going through what I've went through growing up in public and just having millions of people commenting on my body, it's really important to teach them to be confident at any size, just like I try to be. I was looking back at pictures, whether I was smaller or thicker, and at that moment I felt so confident. And I looked great, too. So I just think it's so important to love who you are. You'll never get that moment back. You don't want to judge yourself when you're just always showing up as your best.' You can learn more about Serena's weight-loss journey in her full People interview, as well as her collaborative video with the Ro healthcare company. Reactions to Serena's revelation, which she also discussed on the Today Show, have been pretty split: Related: Well, I'm just happy she's feeling comfortable in her skin again! Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity: Solve the daily Crossword
Buzz Feed
an hour ago
- Buzz Feed
Serena Williams Addresses Weight-Loss Medication Use
Serena Williams is speaking candidly about her struggle with weight and her decision to use weight-loss medication to "enhance everything" that she was already doing. The tennis star has been the topic of conversation recently due to the physical transformation she's been undergoing. Discussions escalated when Serena shared gym selfies on her Instagram in July, showing off chiseled abs, toned arms, and legs. Shocked by the change in her physical appearance, some people in the comments began accusing Serena of using Ozempic to help her achieve her new physique. Harsh reactions continued, the more the married mother of two continued to post, including with her most recent set of pictures, where users suggested this transformation was Serena's way of glorifying "European beauty standards." Responses like this flooded her comment section: Despite all of the criticism about her looks, Serena didn't publicly respond to any of it until now. During a recent interview with People, Serena revealed she's been taking a GLP-1 weight-loss medication, along with exercising to achieve her current form, and has since lost over 31 pounds. 'I feel great,' Serena told People. 'I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.' She said her battle with her weight began after she gave birth to her first daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017, when her postpartum body arrived. 'I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be, no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained. It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy, and could never get down to where I needed to be at.' 'I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,' the 23-time Grand Slam champion said. 'So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.' Serena added that after having her second daughter, Adira River, in 2023, she was able to lose a lot of weight quickly — two weeks to be exact — but she remained stagnant after that and was unable to "lose another pound." While the decorated Olympian has no problem maintaining a healthy lifestyle and workout regimen, she sought out help to lose the actual weight she couldn't seem to get rid of. For additional support, she began a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) treatment. Although Serena kept the name of the drug she's been using private, some popular brands include Ozempic and Mounjaro. 'I did a lot of research on it. I was like, 'Is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?' I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it. They were super supportive, and it was easy to get the medication. I lost over 31 pounds using my GLP-1, and I was really excited about that weight loss.' Serena began the weekly injections of the drug six months after Adira was born and around the time she stopped breastfeeding in early 2024. Since taking the drug, Serena revealed she's never felt better. 'I just can do more," Serena added. "I'm more active. My joints don't hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy, and it's great. I just feel pretty good about it.' 'GLP-1 helped me enhance everything that I was already doing — eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day. So I think that it's important for everyone to hear my story. And I feel like there's a lot of people that can relate.' She said she's not trying to maintain a particular appearance, and believes there was nothing wrong with the size she was before. It just came down to what she actually wanted to look and feel like. 'I've never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,' she admits. 'I always felt comfortable at any size, whether I was a lot heavier or not. I do feel like my body didn't like me at that weight. I had pain in my joints and pain in different areas just because of the extra weight that I'm not used to carrying since I had children.' 'But the size I was before, there was nothing wrong with it. It's just not what I wanted to have,' she continues. 'I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable.' Serena wants to continue to have conversations with her young daughters about body positivity and body image. 'With me going through what I've went through growing up in public and just having millions of people commenting on my body, it's really important to teach them to be confident at any size, just like I try to be. I was looking back at pictures, whether I was smaller or thicker, and at that moment I felt so confident. And I looked great, too. So I just think it's so important to love who you are. You'll never get that moment back. You don't want to judge yourself when you're just always showing up as your best.' You can learn more about Serena's weight-loss journey in her full People interview, as well as her collaborative video with the Ro healthcare company. Reactions to Serena's revelation, which she also discussed on the Today Show, have been pretty split: Well, I'm just happy she's feeling comfortable in her skin again!
