Although Kartal reached the quarter-finals in Beijing in 2025, her global ranking dropped to 129th after she was forced to sit out most of the current season, which saw her miss the previous three Grand Slam events.
Following her injury-enforced withdrawal during a round-of-16 match with Rybakina at Indian Wells back in March, she only made her competitive comeback during the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last month.
Nevertheless, Kartal marked her return to the tour with an easy victory against Spain’s Andrea Lazaro Garcia at the China Open, before delivering a highly efficient display to defeat Wang.
Recording 12 winners alongside a mere 11 unforced errors—in contrast to the 24 committed by her opponent—she utilized some excellent groundstrokes to capitalize on five of her 14 break opportunities.
“I’m incredibly joyful to be competing on these courts, and I believe my game reflects that positive feeling,” Kartal remarked during her post-match interview on the court, thinking back to her quarter-final appearance last season.
“It has been a lengthy absence for me, but returning to this tournament brings me great joy—my goal is to match last year’s result or ideally surpass it this time around.”
Achieving that milestone would have normally required Kartal to brace for a showdown with Rybakina. However, the reigning US Open champion struggled significantly, falling 6-3 4-6 3-6 in an upset loss to the unranked Charaeva, who had never previously encountered a top-20 opponent on the WTA Tour.
In the meantime, Harriet Dart, Kartal’s compatriot on the British squad, put up a spirited fight before ultimately succumbing in three sets to the 10th-seeded American player, Iva Jovic.
The 30-year-old qualifier from Britain seemed poised to pull off a surprise win when she broke serve three times to take a commanding early lead, though she was ultimately overcome 2-6 6-3 6-3 by the promising 18-year-old prospect.
