Kartal ready for Wimbledon after reaching LTA’s Lexus Ilkley Trophy semi-finals

Sonay Kartal will head to Wimbledon qualifying full of confidence following her run to the LTA’s Lexus Ilkley Trophy semi-finals.

Kartal was beaten 6-2 6-1 by top seed Emma Navarro in the last four but had not dropped a set prior to that stage, defeating three higher ranked opponents including world No.113 Simona Waltert and No.66 Aliona Bolsova.

The 21-year-old from Brighton, who is supported by the LTA’s PSP Programme, is now hopeful she can continue strong start to the grass season, where she will look to navigate qualifying in order to make the Wimbledon main draw for the second year in a row.

“My grass tennis this season has been the best it has been,” she said following her victory over Bolsova.

“Each match I’m getting more confidence and I’ve beaten some great players already this past couple of weeks.

“Looking ahead to Wimbledon qualifying, I am going into it feeling confident in my game.”

Navarro will take on Mirjam Bjorklund in the final following the Swede’s 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3 victory over third seed and defending champion Dalma Galfi.

British involvement in Yorkshire also ended in the women’s doubles, as Madeleine Brooks and Holly Hutchinson lost 6-4 6-2 to eventual champions Nao Hibino and Natalija Stevanovic at the semi-final stage.

Hibino and Stevanovic went on to defeat Maja Chwalinska and Jesika Maleckova 7-6(10) 7-6(5) in the final after the latter pair had earlier got past Jessy Rompies and Prarthana Thombare 6-2 7-5 in their semi-final.

The men’s doubles champions were also crowned, with Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar and Kazakhstan’s Aleksandar Nedovyesov teaming up to get past USA’s Robert Galloway and New Zealand’s John-Patrick Smith 2-6 7-5 11-9.

The first seeds recovered from a set down to seal a first title for both players, and condemn Smith to a second successive final defeat.

In the men’s singles, third seed Sebastian Ofner sealed his spot in the final with a convincing 6-3 6-0 win over Zsombor Piros.

Piros had beaten seventh seed Aleksandar Kovacevic before overcoming Alex Bolt and Britain’s Charles Broom on the way to the last four, but world No.81 Ofner was ultimately too strong.

The Austrian will face Jason Kubler in the final, after the Australian beat Arthur Cazaux in the other semi-final.

Cazaux, who lost to Andy Murray in the final of the LTA’s Rothesay Open Nottingham last weekend, took the first set but was unable to prevent Kubler from fighting back to eventually secure a 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website