Sonay Kartal bows out of singles as Brits fall on day three at Queen's

Yahoo

2 days ago

Sonay Kartal bows out of singles as Brits fall on day three at Queen's
British hopes were dashed on day three at Queen's as Sonay Kartal was left to rue her loss against an 'unplayable' Amanda Anisimova.
Kartal fell 6-1 6-3 to the American ace in the second round of the HSBC Championships, unable to take command in the Andy Murray Arena.
Advertisement
Earlier in the day, the doubles partnership of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter came to an end in straight sets as Olivia Nicholls and her doubles teammate Tereza Mihalikova also missed out on progressing.
In Britain's only singles match of the day, Kartal was given the runaround in West Kensington, seemingly reluctant to be aggressive on the return early on and quickly losing four games on the trot.
She was finally rewarded as Anisimova made a series of mistakes to allow a break in the first game of the second set, but the American and immediately rectified her mistakes and broke back.
Kartal returned for another break later on but the Brit was unable to get the better of her opponent on the day and missed out on progressing to the quarter-finals, bowing out of the tournament.
Advertisement
"[Anisimova] has kind of a one-game style, and that's to hit the ball pretty flat and into the corners," she said. "I think when she has a day like today, she's unplayable.
"I can't get too hung up on it. I didn't do too much wrong, to be honest. She just played an incredible match.
"With her game style, she hits a big ball. She can rush me, give me not a lot of time on the ball. It's harder to kind of play my game style when she's just going one corner to the next."
As quickly as they rose, the fresh faced 'Boultercanu' partnership came crashing down in straight sets as Boulter and Raducanu bowed out of the doubles competition in the second round.
Advertisement
The duo were unable to replicate a second win on the grass as they lost 6-2 7-5 to Lyudmyla Kichenok and Erin Routliffe.
The Ukrainian and Kiwi beat Sonay Kartal and Jodie Burrage in straight sets in their first round match and swept aside a second British pair to book their spot in the quarterfinals.
After an error-strewn first set, Boulter and Raducanu were able to produce a rallying second set performance to roar back into contention, saving three set points to almost force a decider.
It was a reply the duo were proud of, with smiles still strewn on their faces, in a partnership that they have previously stated is built on building into the Billie Jean King Cup later this summer.
Advertisement
"We are both playing Billie Jean King Cup, and we want to put ourselves in the best position possible," said Raducanu, following their opening match at Queen's.
Nicholls fell to a hard-fought straight sets defeat on her doubles debut at Queen's.
The 30-year-old and her doubles partner Mihalikova of Slovakia fell 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) to Ellen Perez and Shuai Zhang in the first round of the Championships after reaching the third round at Roland-Garros less than two weeks ago.
A loss for Nicholls ensured that there are no more British players in the women's doubles draw at Queen's.
Advertisement
British singles hopes now rest on Boulter, Raducanu and Heather Watson who all play their second-round draws tomorrow.
World no.10 Emma Navarro roared back from match point down to soar into the quarter-finals during a gruelling three setter.
The American beat Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia 1-6 7-6 6-3 in two hours and 47 minutes at the Andy Murray Arena.
Haddad Maia laid down a convincing first set to soar ahead against a stumbling Navarro who lost four games in a row.
With how easily the Brazilian breezed through the opening set, it was almost unexpected to still be going after two hours of play, but Navarro refused to let up late on and forced a tie-break and then a decider to clinch the win.
Advertisement
Elsewhere, second seed Madison Keys produced a clinical performance to win her opening match 6-3 6-2 as sixth seed Karolina Muchova was dumped out of the draw by qualifier Tatjana Maria in a hard-fought 6-7 7-5 6-1 victory to the German.
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website