In contrast, Kartal appears to be thriving at Wimbledon.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed an impressive rise in the last 12 months and beat 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round – her third win against a top-20 opponent this year. She followed that by powering past Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2 to reach the third round.
Kartal is a recognisable presence on the court with her tattoos and distinctly retro tennis kit, and appears to be enjoying playing on the big stage.
Her path to professional tennis is not a well-trodden one, having had to largely self-fund her career, something she credits with helping her to mature very quickly.
“When I was growing up, I kind of did quite a lot of tournaments on my own just because I couldn’t afford to pay a coach week in and week out,” said Kartal, who has climbed around 250 places in the rankings over the past year to 51st.
“I think it was great. It helped me develop as a teenager, grow up super fast, made me much more mature, hold myself accountable to a lot of things.”
Next up for Kartal is a match against French qualifier Diane Parry, who beat 12th seed and world number 15 Diana Shnaider to reach the third round.
The British number three is determined to keep her good form going as she looks to reach the fourth round for the first time.
“I think having a home Slam, I think that’s one arena I really want to perform well in front of the people that mean the most to me, friends and family and everyone,” added Kartal.
“Also, it’s a surface that doesn’t really come naturally to me. I have to really think and adapt my game style, which I think is also going to help me develop beyond this tournament as well.”
