SONAY KARTAL bowed out of Wimbledon – amid more Centre Court line-calling controversy.
Kartal, the last British player in the women’s singles and making her Centre Court bow under a roof closed for daylight play for the first time this Championships, gave her all in a topsy-turvy roller-coaster of a match against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Despite earning a set point in the opener, the 23-year-old Kartal was eventually out-hit as she lost 7-6 6-3 in a two hours and two minutes.
But the BIG talking point was the latest malfunction of the new automatic line-judging system in operation in SW19 for the first time this year.
Just two days after Emma Raducanu publicly called out the AI judging on the All England Club’s showpiece venue, the last British woman left standing was involved in another bizarre incident.
Kartal’s forehand at game point to Pavluchenkova in the ninth game of the opener was clearly out but there was no call from the electronic officials.
With both players perplexed, German umpire Nico Helwerth halted play for three minutes as TV replays showed the non-call was totally wrong.
Eventually, Helwerth announced: “The electronic system was unable to track the last point”, ordering a replay, which saw Pavlyluchenkova volley wildly and eventually lose serve again.
It was a bizarre moment in a strange match, which saw neither player able to dominate on their serve.
Getting her third break – in those circumstances – could have been the springboard to a victory which would have seen her tournament earnings reach £400,000 – compared to her previous CAREER prize money of £333,000.
But despite a set point, Kartal was unable to serve out before being swept aside in the tie break.
And while the Brighton star bounced back from losing her opening service game in the second set she was crucially broken once more at 2-2, a missed forehand starting to put the writing on the wall.
Kartal refused to give up, asking the ultimate question of her opponent as she made the Russian serve out for the victory.
But Pavlyuchenkova, who matched her 2016 feat of reaching the last eight here in SW19, did not fold.
Kartal, though, can be proud of her run and she deserved the standing ovation that accompanied her exit.
Pavlyuchenkova, 34, apologised to the home fans after her victory ended Kartal’s dream run.
She said: “Sorry guys. I’d like to thank you for the great energy.
“I understand that she was local and that’s it. But it’s nice to play in a full stadium.”
The Russian added: “I was so impressed with her – but also myself, too.
“I was getting out of breath at one stage but to keep up with these young guys at this age and for me to play at this level is incredible.”
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