Kartal, lucky loser qualified for the Round of 16 at Indian Wells: "I raised my level in the important moments"

The Round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells. While the top eight seeds are still in contention in California, fourteen of the sixteen players competing to lift the trophy in the desert are seeded.

Only wild card Belinda Bencic and lucky loser Sonay Kartal have survived the dominance of the world's top-ranked WTA players.

The British player, ranked 83rd in the world, is the revelation of this tournament. After losing in the final round of qualifying to Clervie Ngounoue (3-6, 7-5, 7-5), she benefited from Sloane Stephens' last-minute withdrawal to enter the main draw.

Subsequently, the 23-year-old player has had a flawless run, defeating Varvara Lepchenko (7-6, 6-2), Beatriz Haddad Maia (6-2, 6-1), and Polina Kudermetova (7-5, 6-3). These results have earned her a marquee matchup against world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the next round.

Asked after her match against the Russian player, Kartal, who is now guaranteed to achieve her highest ranking next week (at least 63rd place as she heads into the Miami tournament), spoke about her tournament to the BBC.

"At the beginning of the year, I had a health issue, so I was going back and forth to the hospital. In this tournament, I had booked an apartment for the qualifiers and had to find another place to stay at the last minute for the main draw.

I was homeless for a few hours while I sorted it out. But it was a good problem to have. As for today's match (against Polina Kudermetova), it wasn't as easy as it looked.

My goal was to hold my service games, make her play every ball, and keep the pressure on the scoreboard. I kept my cool and raised my level in the important moments," she said.