Gauff stops British qualifier Kartal to reach last 16 at Wimbledon

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[July 06, 2024]  By Martyn Herman
 
 LONDON (Reuters) -Second seed Coco Gauff ended the surprise run of British qualifier Sonay Kartal as the American marched into the fourth round of Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-0 victory on Friday. 

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 5, 2024 Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her third round match against Britain's Sonay Kartal REUTERS/Matthew Childs

Gauff was pushed hard by a player who began the week ranked 298th in the world, but once she banked the opening set the outcome of the match was never in doubt.

"I thought I played really well and she was playing a high level especially in the first set," U.S. Open champion Gauff said on Court One under the closed roof.

"She wasn't giving me much to work with and not letting me settle. I felt like I was going for the right shots but was just missing, but eventually I found it."

Gauff reached the fourth round as a qualifier in 2019 when she was 15 and also got to that stage in 2021 but has never progressed to the quarter-finals.

Standing in the way now is 19th-seeded American Emma Navarro who beat Diana Shnaider on Friday.

For 22-year-old Kartal, one of three Britons along with Emma Raducanu and Harriet Dart to reach the third round, it proved to be an unforgettable week.

As she heads off to get a tattoo so that she can have a permanent reminder of her 2024 Wimbledon adventure, Kartal will also be holding onto the memory of the roaring support she received from the Court One crowd.

"It was unbelievable. From walking out to walking off. They were behind me after every single point. I think it's something that is truly special," said Kartel, who suffered an undisclosed serious health issue at the start of 2024.

"It meant a lot to me today to have them backing me after every point. That feeling of them in my ear when I was walking off, that moment is going to stick around a long time for me."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Alison Williams and Ken Ferris)

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