Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal capped off a magnificent week in Tunisia with her first WTA Tour title at the Jasmin Open, but the day ended in disappointment for GB’s Davis Cup team.
Kartal overcame Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 7-5 in Monistar for her maiden WTA 250 honour, while the Davis Cup troupe fell to a 2-1 loss to Canada, which extinguished their dreams of quarter-final qualification.
World number 151 Kartal had to come through qualifying to make it to the main draw of the Jasmin Open, prior to which she had never reached a WTA 250 quarter-final let alone a semi or championship match.
The 22-year-old squared up to another first-time WTA Tour finalist in Slovakia’s Sramkova, whom she had previously locked horns with in Bath on the ITF Circuit last year, losing a three-set thriller.
However, Kartal avenged that loss with a brilliant 6-3 7-5 victory over the 27-year-old, taking one hour and 58 minutes to prevail in a match of twists and turns, as the duo shared 12 breaks between them.
Sramkova – who reached the final thanks to some terrific turnarounds in the week – fought back from a double break down in the second set to level at 4-4, but she was broken again before immediately returning the favour as Kartal lost serve while trying to clinch the title.
© Imago
The Briton did not dwell on that initial failure to serve for the crown, breaking Sramkova for the final time for a 6-5 lead and and converting her first match point as the Slovakian overcooked a forehand.
“It’s unbelievable. I’ve had such a good week this week, played some of my best tennis this week, had some of my best wins. I feel like each match I’ve kind of grown and got better,” Kartal said on the court after her milestone win.
GB crash out of Davis Cup with defeat to Canada
However, Great Britain’s male counterparts could not emulate Kartal’s success on Sunday, as a narrow defeat to Canada in the Davis Cup extinguished their slim chances of qualifying for the last eight in Malaga.
Leon Smith‘s team knew that only a 3-0 victory may have sufficed for a top-two finish, but neither Dan Evans nor Jack Draper could deliver on a dampening day in Manchester.
Evans was defeated 0-6 5-7 by Denis Shapovalov before Felix Auger-Aliassime sank Draper 7-6[8] 7-5, as GB’s elimination was confirmed before an inconsequential doubles showdown.
Henry Patten and Neal Skupski did restore some pride for GB with a 7-6[4] 6-4 win over Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau, but that was trivial as Canada and Argentina advanced to November’s knockout rounds from Group D.
