by The relaxed Sonay Kartal takes the Wimbledon ramp light in your step-even when a trip to the shops turned out to be usual.
All eyes are the only British woman on Kartal that has reached the fourth round after Emma Raducanus reached brave defeat with the top -seed Aryna Sabalenka on Friday evening through the top seed defeat.
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If she beats the Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Center Court on Sunday, the 23-year-old will be the first British to reach the last eight since Johanna Kont 2019.
Kartal is not affected by the attention to you (Mike Egerton/Pa)
Kartal was back to court on Saturday and played with her close friend and fellow witness colleague Jodie Burrage Double.
“She definitely has more cameras on her now. I noticed that,” said Burrage. “This is expected, do you know?
“It was nice to play a double game with this atmosphere. It was packed in this place. Unfortunately we couldn’t get it a little more up to run because we lost.
Kartal, right, laughs with the double partner Jodie Burrage (Mike Egerton/Pa)
“But it was fun. She takes it like a champion. She loves the spotlight.”
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Kartal rolls with her eyes, not for the first time when her buddy teases her gently.
But the run of the Brighton Pro in SW19 recorded the public’s imagination, as it found on Friday evening after her victory in the third round against Diane Parry.
“I went into the shops and it was a bit difficult,” she said. “I have to get used to that in the next few weeks.
“Listen, people think, I don’t like it as my whole life that I went a little under the radar, but I have no problem being in the spotlight or not.
“When the spotlight is on you, this means that you do good things. I take it as a compliment.”
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It is not only Kartal’s tennis that is the hot topic in the southwest of London, but also her tattoos.
She won the 14th place after winning her first game at the French Open last month and is now taking up suggestions for ink number 15.
The Kartal retro kit also won admirers (Mike Egerton/Pa)
“I had a couple – Jodie’s idea of having the center of Hof was terrible,” she laughed.
“I will not understand that. Someone said I should get the Vintage Polo top that I wore. I don’t know if it is possible. Maybe a fire and an ice cream tattoo. I like that -but it would remind me of iodine!”
Kartal found that she will make her debut on the Center Court on Sunday, shortly before she played her double game, and she does not have the intention that it is the last time.
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“It is a great honor to play on this dish. A dish you dream of,” she said.
“I look at it that it is a slightly larger place. Warm up on the farm a few days ago will help me. I will go much better in the middle.
“I know I’m not finished. I did a week – have a week more to go to the finish line.
“There were some crazy results. I got a good place in the draw, things are open. I am excited and will enjoy every second.”
