This time last year Kartal was playing outside of the world’s top 250 and now frequently finds herself at the bigger tournaments, following positive runs at Wimbledon and Indian Wells and a first Tour title in Monastir.
At Queen’s this week, the 23-year-old had already made a productive start but against Anisimova she barely had chance to take in her surroundings before finding herself a double break down.
Powerful groundstrokes and pinpoint accurate shots to the corners of the court proved a handful for Kartal and in just 26 minutes Anisimova had wrapped up the first set.
The crowd, fatigued after a marathon match between Navarro and Haddad Maia which neared three hours in the London heat, had little to cheer in the opening set but offered encouragement to their home player when she broke in the first game of the second.
But an immediate response from the American put the match back on serve before Anisimova took control with a brilliant forehand slice.
Kartal was quick to reply and broke back at the first opportunity but that triggered yet another break of serve from Anisimova and this time Kartal could not work her way back into the contest.
Despite feeling “disappointed” with this loss, Kartal said she can take positives from a significant opening-round win.
“I’ve still had a great win, probably one of my best matches,” she said.
“I’m going to take that one. I feel like I’m still playing great on the grass, so I’ll try and take as much confidence as I can into next week.”
Her focus will shift to the next couple of weeks, when she will play at Nottingham and Eastbourne, before Wimbledon begins on 30 June.
The feeling of positivity around the British women at Queen’s is clear to see with Kartal, Boulter and Raducanu all inside the top 50 and that can only bode well for the run-in to Wimbledon.
“I think it spurs all of us on. We have a really good group at the minute. We’re all playing super well. We all love seeing each other do well, so it’s ultimately what we want,” Kartal said.
