British star ranked world No.295 wins first professional match of career at Wimbledon | Tennis | Sport

British tennis star Sonay Kartal, 22, won the first professional match of her career beating Romania’s 29th-seed Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

The Brighton-born ace had never before won a Tour-level tie – and was dumped out of SW19 in the first round of the last two editions.

But she will remember this day for a very long time after shocking a seeded player to book her place in round two – and scooping a minimum £93,000 prize money in the process.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Lily Miyazaki earned her first ever Wimbledon win as she eased past Tamara Korpatsch to double her year’s earnings in an hour.

The 28-year-old wildcard set up a clash with 14th-round seed Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday with the 6-2, 6-1 win.

Tokyo-born Miyazaki said: “It’s [the prize money] huge. Obviously it helps with the travel, my training, some things like that.

“But to be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about that when I was playing. I just really wanted to go out there and put in a good performance, see how I keep improving my level.

“Hopefully I can use that [money] to keep building my ranking, yeah, keep going forwards.

Heather Watson bowed out to doubles partner and Belgian World No 80 Greet Minnen in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 but her disappointment was tempered by a call-up to Paris 2024 to pair up with Katie Boulter.

She said: “I’m so happy. This will be my fourth Olympic Games. Was a huge goal of mine this last year.

“Very special to share it with Katie, play doubles with her there. We get along super well.”

Naomi Osaka returned to Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 as she beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

The four-time Grand Slam champion was back 12 months on from the birth of her daughter, Shai, missed 2021 due to mental health reasons and 2022 because of injury.

The wildcard entry said: “I’m really excited to be here and it’s funny, Wimbledon was the first tournament I watched after pregnancy so I’m really glad to still be here.”

America’s No 2 seed Coco Gauff cruised past compatriot Caroline Dolehide 6-1, 6-2.

Third seed Aryna Sabalenka withdrew earlier in the day with a shoulder injury.

The Belarusian, 26, said: “I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating.”

No 16 seed Victoria Azarenka also withdrew because of a shoulder injury.