Wimbledon 2025 results: Sonay Kartal beats Diane Parry to reach round four

Aside from her tattoos and her impressive form at Wimbledon so far, there are other things that are noticeable about Kartal.

On court she wears baggy, almost retro style tennis clothes – which ties in with her love of 1990s music – while she also appears very focused and determined on what she wants to achieve.

That not only has seen her rise from 864th in the world to 51st in the last three years, but was also evident as she battled back from 4-1 down in the first set against Parry to ultimately power through comfortably.

Those characteristics may come from her years starting out in tennis where for the majority of her time as a teenager she was self-funded and travelled to tournaments without a coach.

She also had difficult periods of injury which led to her not picking up a racquet for two years.

A good all-rounder at sports, once Kartal decided to put her sole focus on tennis she was determined she would make it as a professional.

“I played football and cricket as well as a kid at the time to the same level but once I committed to tennis, I always felt like tennis was the one,” she added.

“I always felt like I was slightly different as a player to most players at the time that I was growing up with.

“I had a lot of belief. I had good people around me that really backed me and said that I just needed a good run, I could have a breakout year.

“I think tennis, despite me being sidelined for years on and off, it was still always the goal for me.”

That attitude, along with her performances at Wimbledon so far this year, are catching the eye of those watching, and the court one crowd were on their feet when victory was confirmed against Parry, applauding her gutsy display.

Depending on how things pan out in the coming days she could even replace Emma Raducanu as the British number one by the end of Wimbledon.

“Sonay is just an amazing, an amazing story,” Jamie Baker, the former British tennis player and tournament director at Wimbledon told BBC Sport.

“There’s nothing not to like about Sonay. She just gets on with her business.”

As her tattoo reads, the show must go on, and Kartal will get back to business on Sunday as she looks to secure a dream place in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.