Sonay Kartal has the words “the show must go on” inked on her skin. She says it’s not tied to one specific moment. But with the injuries, self-funding struggles, and now her deep run at Wimbledon, those words seem to echo louder than ever. It’s been a breakthrough week for the 23-year-old from Brighton. Kartal stormed into the fourth round of a major for the first time, dismantling French qualifier Diane Parry 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday. She’s now the last British woman standing at SW19. So, who is the brains behind this rising star?

Who’s Coaching Sonny Kartal?

Sonay Kartal’s run to the second week hasn’t been a fluke. Kartal kicked off the tournament by knocking out 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko. Then she breezed through Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets before putting on arguably her best performance yet against Parry. Next up is a big test. Kartal will face world No. 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who just knocked Naomi Osaka out in round three. The matchup will take place on Centre Court, where the British No.3 will make her debut on the biggest stage in British tennis.

Kartal’s tennis journey began when she was just six. Her coach, Julie Hobbs, has been by her side since the very start. Back then, Hobbs was still known as Julie Pullin, who once reached the second round of Wimbledon’s doubles draw in 2000.

She recalls her first memory of court with Hobbs fondly. “We used to do this thing called the lines game, it’s a little warm-up,” she said. “They’d shout, ‘service line’, and all the kids had to run to the service line. That was always the first game, and I was too shy for three months to actually come on court. My coach, Julie [Hobbs], finally managed to get me to do it. I tried to run to the outside tramline, tripped over, burst into tears. Off I went, and I didn’t come back for a couple of months.”

But eventually, coaxed by Hobbs, she gave it another try. And she never looked back. Sonay Kartal has also worked with Pav & Ave’s Coaching Team along the way. Many Club members have backed her during this journey, and she continues to train at her local Club. Recently, Ben Reeves joined her coaching setup as well.

With this team, she’s ready to storm into Centre Court and make it her own playground. As for Hobbs, the coach has found some success, making it all the to the WTA finals. Her bigger success came in doubles, maintaining a positive record.

Sonay Kartal vows to keep “swinging”

A series of injuries kept Sonay Kartal off the court for two years. Still, she stayed committed to the dream. And it’s paying off. This time last year, she was ranked 259 in the world. Today, she sits at No. 51 and could go higher than her career-best of 49 if she keeps this run going.

The 23-year-old has now joined a rare club of British women making the fourth round at Wimbledon. She’s the fourth unseeded player to do it this century, after Laura Robson in 2013, Emma Raducanu in 2021 and 2024, and Heather Watson in 2022.

With the spotlight now on her, Kartal is embracing the moment. “I think it’s an honour,” she said. “Obviously you’ve got a lot of attention on you but it means you’re doing good things.”

She’s not shying away from the challenge ahead either. “I’m going to go out on the court in the next round with nothing to lose at the minute,” said Kartal. “I’m going to go swinging. The pressure that I’ll feel is the pressure I will be putting on myself just wanting to perform as best as I can.”

The show must go on, and for Sonay Kartal, it’s only just getting started. Can she go one step further and keep the British dream alive? Follow the Championships in real-time with EssentiallySports’ Live Blog updates.