Sonay Kartal showed respect for Mirra Andreeva by stating that the Russian is a top-10 player "for a reason," but also credited her cool demeanor for completing one of the biggest upsets of this year's WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.
Kartal, who is 23 and playing at the China Open for the first time in her career, started her debut by clinching three consecutive straight-set wins. On Wednesday, it only got better for the 81st-ranked Briton, who stunned No. 4 seed Andreeva 7-5 2-6 7-5 to progress into the quarterfinal.
By beating Andreeva, Kartal registered her first top-10 win. Also, she secured her first quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 level stage.
"She's [Andreeva] a top-10 player for a very good reason. She made me play my best tennis today, so credit to her, but I'm super happy with the level I managed out there," the world No. 81 said.
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Kartal on not cracking under the pressure versus Andreeva
Kartal sealed a very tight opening set by earning the first break of the match in the 12th game. The second set was a completely different story as the No. 4 seed responded with two breaks. But just when it seemed that the whole momentum was on the Russian's side, the Briton didn't panic and took the third set by breaking her rival in the 12th game once again.
"The way I carry myself on the court is one of my biggest assets, I think. You can look down the other end of the court and you won't really know if I'm winning or losing. I just tried to put that second set behind me -- she played some great tennis. I just tried to level it out in the third set and keep the scoreboard pressure as far as I could," the 23-year-old Briton said when asked about her cool and calm on-court demeanor.
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Kartal will battle against 26th-seeded Linda Noskova in the Beijing quarterfinal.
