Britain’s Sonay Kartal is on course to reach a new career-high ranking after reaching her first WTA Tour final.
The 22-year-old qualifier will face world number 136 Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in the final of the Jasmin Open in Tunisia on Sunday.
Kartal was leading 5-1 in Saturday’s semi-final against Eva Lys when the German was forced to withdraw due to illness.
“I’m sure we’ll both be here tomorrow, you know, shoulders are going to be a little heavy, we’ll both be a little nervous,” said Kartal, with Sramkova, 27, also a first-time finalist.
“But ultimately it will be whoever can deliver the best performance on the biggest stage.”
Kartal, ranked 151st in the world, had never reached the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament before this week but has not dropped a set since the first round.
The British number four beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in the quarter-finals, gaining revenge on the Ukrainian in the final round of US Open qualifying just a few weeks ago.
Kartal, from Brighton, also reached the third round of Wimbledon earlier this year and her performance in Monastir means she will now enter the world’s top 120.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Francesca Jones won the first set against Swiss player Jil Teichmann in the semi-finals of a WTA 125 tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, before losing 6-2 4-6 1-6.
