British Wimbledon star ranked World No.298 bagelled by Gauff in £143k loss | Tennis | Sport

Sonay Kartal put on a gutsy first-set display but couldn’t live with the class of Coco Gauff on Court One.

The British qualifier lost 6-4 6-0 against the world No. 2 under the roof as the rain belted down outside.

Kartal, 22, was the first qualifier from these shores to reach the third round since 1977 but unfortunately her journey ended here.

Gauff, 20, looks in scintillating form and with one of the pre-tournament favourites in Aryna Sabalenka out she will be starting to dream of landing her first SW19 title.

Next up for her is compatriot Emma Navarro on Sunday. It looked like Kartal may have put up a fight in the first set.

The Brit walked out onto Court One admiring the surroundings but probably considering the task in front of her with 296 places separating them in the world rankings.

Maybe she was a little nervous, too. Gauff won the first eight points to race into an early lead. It looked ominous.

Kartal was having to sit deep to deal with the American’s powerful serve, which was ripping through the warm air inside the closed arena.

But she managed to break Gauff in the eighth game to level it up at 4-4. Hope of an upset? It didn’t last long.

The Atlanta-born star broke back immediately before seeing out the opening set.

Gauff had never been beyond the third round at the All-England club but she seems much more comfortable on the grass here now.

She went through her highlight reel of shots in the opening two games of the second set to again race into an early advantage.

This time Kartal just couldn’t respond. Gauff was putting her foot down and looking to get this done early.

Gauff revealed earlier in the week she was off to the theatre to pass her time on one evening but she was the one putting on the show here.

The American didn’t drop a point in the final game as she brutally put away the British hopeful.

It was an impressive display. Kartal can take some comfort from her first-set display and breaking a player of Gauff’s class along with the £143,000 cash prize for reaching the third round.

But it wasn’t really a contest in the second set. Gauff will now take on her compatriot Navarro, who put Naomi Osaka out of the tournament earlier in the week. It promises to be an exciting clash with the 19th seed.