Fit-again Kartal takes top-50 scalp with Wuhan win

Sonay Kartal continued her impressive form since returning from injury by beating Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets to reach round two of the Wuhan Open.

The British number five reached the third round at the Beijing Open earlier this month in her first WTA tournament for six months, having been sidelined with a stress fracture in her back.

The 24-year-old followed that up by defeating Ukraine's Kalinina 7-5 6-3 in an hour and 31 minutes.

World number 170 Kartal will face Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in her next match.

Kartal returned to action last month for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup team event, where she narrowly lost to Czech Marie Bouzkova, who sat 26th in the world rankings.

Wins over Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia and Wang Xinyu followed for Kartal in Beijing, before she lost to Armenia's Alina Charaeva.

Against world number 48 Kalinina, Kartal served four aces and won 23 of 30 points when landing her first serve.

She sealed her spot in the last-32 stage at the third time of asking after Kalanina saved two match points.

Zheng Qinwen withdrew from her home tournament in Wuhan after becoming the first Chinese player to win the China Open.

In a statement, Zheng said she would not be competing because her "body is feeling very fatigued" after "an intense run of matches".

Zheng underwent elbow surgery last year and had struggled with form and fitness over the past 12 months, before a recent upturn led to her triumph in Beijing.