Wimbledon has a new favourite in Sonay Kartal

London-born Brighton-raised Kartal secured a straight sets victory over French qualifier Diane Parry to better her breakout third round run of 2024.

The 23-year-old, who has previously honed her grass court skills in Ilkley with three consecutive appearances at the tournament between 2022 and 2024, is set to return to the world’s top 50 when the rankings update after next week’s finals.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous walking out there,” Kartal admitted on her return to No.1 Court in front of a packed home crowd.

“Last year was also in the back of my mind, losing to Coco [Gauff] on the same court in the same round.

“I tried to take everything I learned from that match and put it into play on the court.”

Having seen a break point opportunity go begging in the opening game, Kartal found herself 3-0 down with Parry, a former top 50 player, finding a clean angled forehand winner from mid-court to break.

Kartal let out a huge roar after finally getting on the board with a 99mph unreturned serve, and she followed it up in the next service game with a 108mph ace to hold again which drew a huge cheer throughout No.1 Court.

The world No 51 set up three opportunities to break back with a fine forehand passing shot on the run, but they all passed her by.

However, a Parry double fault provided another break point and this time a flurry of consistent groundstrokes and backhand slices earned a forehand unforced error to convert.

That would kickstart a run of nine consecutive games for the Brit, a forehand miss from Parry on her slice return handing Kartal the lead before she served out confidently.

Fewer errors were coming from the Kartal racket, and it seemed that Parry felt like she had to overhit to win points. Another unforced error from her forehand on a Kartal backhand slice gave away an early break in the second set.

Another break came when Kartal, on the back foot and pinned deep behind the baseline, chipped up a desperate lob, before reading Parry’s smash perfectly to execute a down-the-line backhand on the run and get a half-volley miss from her opponent.

Parry managed to stem the tide with a couple of holds of serve, but an ace ‘down the T’ and another unreturned serve got the British No 3 over the line 6-4 6-2 in 1 hour 24 minutes.

On her set one comeback, Kartal said: “I just tried to get back on the scoreboard one by one.

“I think last year’s match helped me a lot – leaving the court feeling like I didn’t play my best level.

“Today I just wanted to try my best, put the nerves aside the best I could. When I got level, I felt super comfortable out there.”

Kartal was just one of three Brits to progress to round three after Jack Draper’s shock exit to Marin Cilic. “I think it’s an honour,” she responded when asked about the pressure that comes with being one of the last Brits standing in SW19.

“If you’ve got a lot of attention on you, it means you’re doing good things.

“I'm pretty calm and collected. I don't think it's going to affect me too much. I’m still young and it’s my first fourth round.

“I’m going on court in the next round with nothing to lose. I’m going to go swinging,” Kartal added ahead of her next test against former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Establishing herself in the top 50 will give Kartal the chance to compete in higher-ranked tournaments with more prize money.

The rising star is carving out a career that looked unlikely at one point, injuries keeping her out of much of the junior circuit, but the 23-year-old always believed tennis was her future.

“I was injured on and off for a few years, so I never really got consistent,” she clarified on her junior career.

“I was still playing at the club I’m at today, down in Brighton. I was playing national events for each age group, then I would just go missing a bit.

“I think once I committed to tennis, I always felt like it was the one. I had a lot of belief, good people around me that really backed me and said that I just needed a good run.”

Former British number one Cam Norrie followed Kartal on to No.1 Court as the final home hope in the men’s singles.

Norrie, who dropped as low as 91 in the rankings earlier in the year, secured his first run into the last 16 since 2022 – where he would go on to make it as far as the semi-final before falling.

The 29-year-old beat Italian world number 73, Mattia Bellucci, 24, in straight sets 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3 to continue his recent resurgence - having also made the fourth round at the French Open.

“I was just enjoying my tennis and hitting everything point for point,” Norrie said on court following his win.

“I rode the waves and weathered the storm when I needed to. I’ll take last Brit standing.”