Sonay Kartal has reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final with a three-set victory over Elina Svitolina at the Wuhan Open, continuing an impressive return from more than six months out with a back injury.

The 24-year-old Briton beat the fifth seed 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 on Friday to register her sixth win in eight matches since returning. She will face 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday for a place in the final.

The result is a significant milestone for Kartal, who has dropped to 170 in the rankings after the lay-off. BBC Sport reports that she is only the second British player, after Johanna Konta, to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final since the format began in 2009.

A deciding set against an experienced opponent

Kartal made an encouraging start, breaking Svitolina early and taking the opening set 6–2. She had arrived in the quarter-final without dropping a set, but the Ukrainian’s response ensured this would be a different test from the earlier rounds.

Svitolina received treatment on her right arm during a medical timeout and came back strongly to win the second set by the same score. The match was level, leaving Kartal needing to recover her momentum against the world number six.

The deciding set remained close until Kartal broke serve with a 5–4 lead to complete the victory. The score records both the strength of her opening and the resistance she had to overcome after Svitolina drew level; it was not a straight-sets procession into the last four.

Speaking on court afterwards, Kartal said she knew Svitolina was a great fighter and that she never felt safe in the match. She described her performance as one of solid composure throughout and thanked the Wuhan crowd for its support.

A comeback gathering momentum

Kartal missed more than six months because of a stress fracture in her back. She had reached a career-high ranking of 44 last summer, but the enforced absence left her considerably further down the standings when she returned.

She is competing in Wuhan through a protected injury ranking. That provides a route into an event after a long absence; it does not restore her previous position in the live rankings or remove the need to win matches against highly ranked opponents.

Her run this week has already included victories over Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini and Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic. Beating Svitolina adds another seeded opponent to that sequence and takes her further than she has previously gone at this level.

The six wins in eight matches describe her results since returning from injury, not an unbeaten sequence. Friday’s quarter-final is particularly notable because she had to respond to losing a set for the first time in her Wuhan campaign.

The distinction matters when assessing the comeback. A long lay-off can leave the ranking as an incomplete guide to current form, but one successful tournament does not yet establish how a player will perform over an entire season. What Kartal has demonstrated this week is that she can beat several seeded opponents in succession.

Ostapenko awaits

Ostapenko reached the semi-final by beating 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7–6, 6–1. The opening set required a tie-break, which the Latvian won 8–6, before she took control of the second.

That sets up a meeting between a player entering her first WTA 1000 semi-final and a former French Open champion. Reaching the last four in Wuhan is already new ground for Kartal, but beating Ostapenko would take her further still.

She made that point herself in her post-match remarks, saying she loved playing at the tournament and on its court. The crowd’s atmosphere was part of an occasion she described with evident satisfaction, while the next match remains a separate challenge.

Friday’s result gives British tennis a rare semi-finalist at this level and gives Kartal another substantial result after an injury-disrupted period. It does not decide Saturday’s outcome, but it confirms that her return has moved beyond simply getting back on court.

After overcoming Paolini, Bencic and Svitolina, she now has an opportunity to turn the best WTA 1000 run of her career into a first final. That next step will be decided against Ostapenko, with the semi-final scheduled for Saturday.