Wuhan, Oct 16 (IANS) Britain's Sonay Kartal stunned World No.6 Elina Svitolina in the Wuhan Open quarterfinals 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the Dongfeng Voyah Centre Court to march into her maiden WTA 1000 semis here on Friday.

Kartal continued her stellar run in the tournament, which is her third after a back injury layoff to become just the second British to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal since the introduction of the format in 2009, after Johanna Konta.

The Briton battled past the Ukrainian in a two-hour-and-three-minute battle after being a set up but losing the second one and then holding the edge in the third one to march into the semis.

Speaking after her performance, the Briton highlighted that she has broken new ground. "Despite winning the first set pretty comfortably, I knew what a great fighter she (Svitolina) is, so I knew that until the very last point was played, I was never safe," she said.

"Super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match, and I just think it was solid composure from me throughout.

"I'm breaking new ground this week. I've never reached a semis of a WTA 1000, and as I've said, I absolutely love playing here and playing on these courts. The atmosphere was amazing today," the Briton added.

Kartal, who was previously ranked No.44, had made it to the third round in the China Open last week. She put up stellar performances in Wuhan in the Asian swing as she defeated world No.48 Anhelina Kalinina in the first round, before cruising past No.12 Belinda Bencic in the round of 32. She then defeated former French Open and Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in the pre-quarters.

The Brit now got the better of four-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Svitolina for the first time in three meetings.

Kartal would now be up against Ostapenko in the semis. Ostapenko had earlier defeated Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals 7-6 (6), 6-1 after being 2-5 down in the first set.

--IANS

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