Sonay Kartal’s brilliant run at the Wuhan Open ended in a bruising three-set loss to French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska.
The Briton dominated the first set but was reeled back in thanks to a gritty performance from 16th seed Chwalinska, who converted her third match point at the end of a nervy final game to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The 25-year-old, who beat world No 11 Iva Jovic and six-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek to make her first WTA 1000 final, collapsed to the court in relief as she sealed the title in two hours and 43 minutes.
While it’s a disappointing result for Kartal, this week has nonetheless been in only her third tournament since a six-month injury layoff following a stress fracture in her back.
She had never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals at a WTA 1000 event, the level below the majors. The 24-year-old did it the hard way, dispatching three seeded players in a row in former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini and world No 6 Elina Svitolina, before beating former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals.
Having been ranked 170th in the world after her injury lay-off, Kartal was the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist since the format was introduced 17 years ago, and only the second British woman ever to make a final at this level after Johanna Konta.
She will climb to 50th in the world when the rankings are updated on Monday and replace Katie Boulter as the British No 1.
Momentum swung repeatedly over the course of the encounter, with nine breaks in the first 18 games. Kartal was superior in the first set against a flat Chwalinska but the Pole came out fighting in the second, with her unusual, crafty style, changes of pace and direction and lefty serve causing problems.
Kartal was broken in a mammoth game at 3-3 but upped her aggression to break straight back, only to be on the receiving end of a third straight break thanks to an unlucky net cord at 40-15. Chwalinska deployed the drop shot to great effect and forced a deciding set with a tidy backhand volley at the net.
After a run of four straight holds, Kartal was first to blink in the decider, with the Briton broken to love as she shanked a forehand wide for 2-3.
Chwalinska continued to impose herself, replying to a Kartal drop shot with a better one of her own to earn a break point at 4-2, and converting it immediately as she pushed Kartal behind the baseline, with the world No 170 firing long under pressure.
Both players were wracked with nerves as Chwalinska served for the title: Kartal missed three break points while Chwalinska spurned her first two championship points before finally converting the third as the Brit hit long.