GB's Kartal earns biggest career win at Indian Wells

British lucky loser Sonay Kartal continued to make the most of her reprieve by earning the biggest win of her career to reach the Indian Wells third round.

Kartal, 23, produced a stunning performance to thrash Brazilian 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-1.

It is the British number three's first win against an opponent in the top 20.

The world number 83 has also reached the last 32 of a WTA 1000 event - the tier below the Grand Slam tournaments - for the first time.

Kartal lost in the second qualifying round on her debut in the Californian desert, but was handed a spot in the main draw when former US Open champion Sloane Stephens withdrew through injury.

It is the first time the Englishwoman has been picked out as a lucky loser.

Kartal was placed in a draw among the four highest-ranked players to lose in qualifying following Stephens' withdrawal.

After beating 38-year-old American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko in the first round, Kartal used the feel she has gained on the new-look Indian Wells courts, external over the past week to great effect against Haddad Maia.

Haddad Maia, ranked 17th in the world, received a bye into the second round and looked out of sorts again as she slumped to a fifth successive defeat.

Kartal's run is another notable landmark for a player who has enjoyed one of the sharpest rises on the WTA Tour in the past year.

In October, she won a maiden tour title in Monastir and cracked the world's top 100 for the first time as a result.

At the start of 2024, Kartal feared she would not play again that season because of a health scare that left her going "in and out of hospital".

But she returned to action within three months and has gone from strength to strength after saying the experience had changed her outlook.