Britain’s Sonay Kartal upset ninth seed Belinda Bencic as she continued to construct post-injury momentum at the Wuhan Open.
Kartal reached a career-high rating of 44 last 12 months but has slipped to one hundred and seventieth in the world after a six-month harm absence.
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Having returned to motion for Great Britain at last month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals, the 24-year-old reached the third spherical at the Beijing Open last week before beating Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in her opening match in Wuhan.
The spectacular 6-0 7-5 victory over Swiss world quantity 12 Bencic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last 12 months, was the second largest win of Kartal’s profession by rating.
“I trusted that I would be able to get my level back, I just didn’t know how quickly,” Kartal said.
“I did a lot of things right today but I still think there’s a long way to go.
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“I can produce the degree, but can I maintain it? I think that’s going to be the hardest problem. I’m completely happy to be back, I’m feeling good.”
Kartal will face Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini or 20-year-old Czech Nikola Bartunkova for a quarter-final place.
Kartal suffered a stress fracture in her back in March, which meant she missed three of this year’s four Grand Slams – including Wimbledon.
The Briton, who reached the fourth round at her home Slam last year, was in good form before that enforced break.
That included victories over American top-20 seeds Emma Navarro and Madison Keys at Indian Wells, before she retired against Elena Rybakina in the third round with the back issue.
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Kartal has made a positive return, beating Chinese 31st seed Wang Xinyu as she reached the third round in Beijing, and has now won four of her five matches on her return to the WTA Tour.
Former world number one Iga Swiatek also progressed, recording her 40th win of the season with a 6-2 6-1 victory over fellow Pole Magdalena Frech.
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