How far she went: Reached the fourth round for the first time before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
What we learned: While Kartal says clay is her favourite surface, I am not surprised to see her do well on grass.
In the women’s game you often see the players who like the clay do well on the grass because both surfaces react well to spin, albeit opposite types of spin.
The players who enjoy heavy top-spin on their forehands – like Kartal – often also enjoy hitting their slice backhands.
You can look at Jasmine Paolini and Ons Jabeur, who have both reached Wimbledon finals in recent years, as good examples of players who like variety and lean into their spin more on the grass.
What she can take going forward: There is still room for improvement.
When you look at the recent women who have reached the top 10, you think ‘why couldn’t Kartal do that?’
She is such a sponge. That is why she is moving quickly through the rankings. She is able to be sharp to the pace of the ball and the change of intensity as she starts to play women ranked at the top.
This year she has a great opportunity to capitalise on people not knowing the ins and outs of her game yet.
If she can stay one step ahead when the girls start to find out those weaknesses, and how to counteract that, then she can go much higher.
