Sonay Kartal says Emma Raducanu’s success showed that the dream is achievable

Sonay Kartal watched Emma Raducanu’s US Open triumph with the same wide-eyed disbelief as the rest of the tennis world.

But Kartal’s perspective was unique. Growing up in Brighton, the now 20-year-old quickly established herself as a major young talent, and Raducanu was her big rival.

“We grew up playing each other,” Kartal tells the PA news agency. “I think my earliest memory is maybe under-nines up until under-14s. We’d be in the same national tournaments and we’d always end up meeting each other in the finals and we’d alternate almost every week who won.”

When footage of the two young girls trading groundstrokes surfaced on social media after Raducanu lifted the title in New York, one question lingered – whatever happened to Sonay Kartal?

Injuries provide the answer. From the ages of 14 to 17, a wrist problem left Kartal struggling to pick up a racket. Then came two abdominal tears.

But she has been fit since last year and, helped by the Lawn Tennis Association’s commitment to staging more tournaments in the UK, has been making up for lost time in seriously impressive fashion.

Since returning to the tour last October, Kartal has won 26 of her 28 matches, claiming four titles from six tournaments and sending her ranking soaring to 397 – only 58 places lower than Raducanu was when she introduced herself to the world by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon.

I think I can speak for the others who grew up playing around her that it's nothing but inspiration, a little kick that what we're all trying to achieve, it's doable, it's not a dream that's so unachievable.-

Expecting something similar from Kartal this year would be unfair – Raducanu’s achievements were unprecedented – but she already has her sights set on trying