Britain’s Sonay Kartal saw her excellent run at the China Open come to an end as she was beaten by Linda Noskova in the quarter-finals in Beijing.
Kartal suffered a 6-3 6-4 loss to her Czech opponent after reaching the final eight of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
The 23-year-old, who reached the second week of Wimbledon earlier this summer, had beaten teenage rising star Mirra Andreeva in the biggest victory of her career in the previous round.
Noskova set her marker early as she broke Kartal in the opening game of the match before building a 3-1 lead after a comfortable love hold.
Momentum threatened to shift when Kartal brought up three break points at 40-0, earning a fourth thanks to a double fault before eventually converting to break and level things up at 3-3.
Noskova responded ruthlessly as she converted a third break point to nudge back in front, before holding to restore her two-game cushion and eventually claiming the set.
Kartal sought to mount a comeback when she broke in the opening game of the second before holding for an early 2-0 lead. But for all of her industry, Noskova refused to be deterred and would later level the set at 3-3 after lobbing her opponent.
A hold to love for the Czech made it 5-4, before she sealed the victory with a cross-court forehand to set up a semi-final meeting with world No 7 Jessica Pegula who defeated fellow American Emma Navarro 6-7 (7-2) 6-2 6-1.
Noskova finished having taken five of eight break points while winning 72 per cent of first serve points and 79 per cent of second serve points.
Highlights of Mirra Andreeva against Sonay Kartal from the China Open.
‘I’m on the right path’
Noskova (left) shakes hands with Kartal after defeating the Brit
Despite her loss, Kartal, who will climb above Katie Boulter to become the new British No 2, believes she is “on the right path” following a strong showing in Beijing.
“I’m obviously disappointed with the result, but there were times where she played lights-out tennis and sometimes you’ve just got to let that kind of opponent ride the wave,” Kartal said.
“The scoreline was closer than it felt like playing, at least. Had the chances but got broken. Not overly pleased with the performance today, but regardless I had an incredible week this week.
“I feel like it’s the first time I’ve really brought it to a match court, the new kind of style I want to play and I’ve been trying to get myself to do and that I’ve been working on the practice court.
“So I think to be able to do it and to have the results so convincingly that I did in the previous rounds, I think I’m on the right path. I think it’s given me a lot of confidence.
“Regardless of it being near the end of the year, I think I’ve proved to myself that if I just add one or two more things into my game, I can take my level to a top-10 level and a much higher level than I’m currently ranked at.”
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