Sonay Kartal beat Mirra Andreeva at the China Open and Emma Raducanu found herself in the social media spotlight
Emma Raducanu found herself embroiled in a social media row after British tennis ace Sonay Kartal stunned the sport by defeating Mirra Andreeva.
Prior to her showdown with the Russian, Kartal sat as Britain’s third-ranked player, trailing behind Katie Boulter. The 23-year-old took on Andreeva in the China Open’s round of 16 stage in Beijing.
Her Russian rival entered as the overwhelming favourite and fourth seed in the tournament. Kartal claimed the opening set 7-5 but stumbled in the second as Andreeva broke her serve twice to level proceedings 6-2. The Briton rediscovered her finest tennis in the decider, securing another service break en route to clinching the final set 7-5.
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However, after Kartal leapfrogged Boulter in the rankings, a tennis social media account referenced Raducanu, cautioning the US Open champion that her British rival was closing in.
The British Tennis Players On Tour X account posted: “Sonay Kartal has now overtaken Katie Boulter to become the new British No. 2. There’s no doubt she’ll now be hunting down Emma Raducanu for that British Number One spot now.”
One X user objected to the remark, posting: “So you can’t celebrate Kartal’s victory without bringing Emma Raducanu down. British people are so exhausting,” to which the page responded: “How is this bringing Emma down exactly? I’m saying how we have friendly competition between the Brits for that number one spot, which is a good thing!”
Raducanu also took part in the China Open, where she triumphed over Spanish sensation Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-3 before being defeated by Jessica Pegula 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-0.
The US Open champ is set to compete at the Wuhan Open, kicking off on October 6.
Kartal and Boulter are also aiming to join her, but they’ll need to battle through qualifying to reach the main draw. While Kartal is having a stellar season, Raducanu currently sits at World No.32, her highest ranking since August 2022.
Raducanu may have been disheartened by her third set against Pegula, but she did secure a match point over the American in the tiebreak.
She also recently made it to the third round of the Cincinatti Open, where she was ousted by World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Their three-hour showdown saw the Belarusian come out on top 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling face-off in the USA.
Many fans will recall the match for the astonishing 23-minute service game in the final set which saw Raducanu taken to deuce 13 times.
She had to fend off four break points before serving out the contest.
Raducanu also advanced to the third round of the US Open and the National Bank Open.