Sonay Kartal’s comeback has carried her all the way to the Wuhan Open final, where the British world No. 170 will face 16th seed Maja Chwalinska for the WTA 1000 title on Sunday. It is the first Wuhan championship match since the event began in 2014 to feature two players ranked outside the world’s top 20, guaranteeing a first-time WTA 1000 winner.
Key takeaways
- The singles final is scheduled for not before 6:30 p.m. local time on Center Court, following the doubles final.
- Kartal, returning from a six-month injury absence, has defeated five top-50 opponents during her run.
- Chwalinska reached the final by beating seventh seed Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 in an all-Polish semifinal.
- The champion will collect $665,000 and 1,000 ranking points; the runner-up receives $385,001 and 650 points.
- Kartal is projected to rise close to the top 50, while Chwalinska is set to move into the top 15 regardless of Sunday’s result.
Two unlikely finalists emerge from demanding Wuhan draw
Chwalinska, ranked No. 22, has put together one of the most significant weeks of her career on the hard courts in Wuhan. The Polish player opened with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mayar Sherif, then recovered from a set down to defeat 16th seed Marie Bouzkova 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Her progress continued with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 10th seed Iva Jovic and a three-set quarterfinal against Maria Sakkari, won 6-0, 3-6, 7-5. Chwalinska then denied Swiatek in the semifinals, breaking clear after a tight opening set to win 7-5, 6-1.
The victory over Swiatek gave Chwalinska her second top-20 win of the season and sent her into her first final since her surprise Roland Garros run. She is seeking the first WTA Tour title of her career.
Kartal has taken an equally striking route to Sunday’s final. She began with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Anhelina Kalinina before producing a 6-0, 7-5 upset of ninth seed Belinda Bencic. The Briton then swept past 15th seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0.
Her quarterfinal demanded a recovery from a set down against fifth seed Elina Svitolina, with Kartal prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the semifinals, she held her nerve through two extended tiebreaks to beat Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(9), 7-6(5).
“It was a dream come true,” Kartal said of reaching this stage so soon after such a lengthy absence. “I had been aiming to get this far at one of these events for a long time, and to do it this quickly after being out for so long means a lot.”
Kartal said she had accepted the underdog role throughout the week, while demanding a high standard from herself. “The pressure mostly comes from me,” she said. “No matter how long I was away, I still expect to perform well. I’m very proud of what I have achieved this week.”
She added that confidence had grown from match to match and praised the atmosphere around her semifinal. Since returning to the tour after her post-Indian Wells layoff, Kartal has compiled a 7-1 record in tour-level matches, including a run to the last 32 in Beijing.
Ranking points, prize money and landmark stakes
Kartal is playing her second tour-level final, having won the WTA 250 title in Monastir in 2024. Her Wuhan campaign has made her only the second British player to reach a Tier I or WTA 1000 final since the format began in 1990. Johanna Konta previously achieved that feat in Beijing in 2016, Miami in 2017 and Rome in 2019.
Chwalinska’s final carries its own historical weight. She is only the second player in the modern Tier I/WTA 1000 era to make her first two tour-level finals at a Grand Slam and at this level. Amelie Mauresmo did so through Berlin in 1998 and the Australian Open in 1999, while Anna Kournikova reached Key Biscayne in 1998 and Hilton Head in 1999.
As a left-hander, Chwalinska is also the first player to reach both a Grand Slam final and a WTA 1000 final since Petra Kvitova in 2019. Should she win, she would become the fourth player since 2009 to claim her first tour title at WTA 1000 level, following Naomi Osaka at Indian Wells in 2018, Bianca Andreescu at Indian Wells in 2019 and Victoria Mboko in Montreal in 2025.
The Wuhan singles champion earns $665,000 from a total tournament purse of $4,088,211, while the finalist receives $385,001. The title is worth 1,000 points in both the PIF WTA Rankings and the Race to the WTA Finals at Indian Wells; the runner-up takes 650 points.
The doubles final starts at 4 p.m. local time before the singles championship match. For international viewers, the singles final is set for not before 6:30 a.m. EST and 11:30 a.m. CEST.
