Sonay Kartal and Heather Watson to meet in all-British Lexus W100 Shrewsbury final
There will be a British champion at this year's Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament with Sonay Kartal and Heather Watson to face each other in an exciting final tomorrow.
It will be followed by an all-British doubles final with Amelia Rajecki and Mimi Xu through to play Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber.
Watson, the British number five, was a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Swiss player Simona Waltert in the day's opening singles semi-final in the DMOS People Arena.
British number four Kartal was then leading second seed Oceane Dodin 7-5, 2-1 in the second last four clash when French player Dodin, twice Shrewsbury champion of lower level tournaments in 2014 and 2015, was forced to retire owing to injury.
It sets up an intriguing battle of the Brits contest in the final of the biggest women's tennis tournament, outside of the grass court season, to be played in the UK this year.
“It's super good to have two Brits in the final here,” said Kartal, 22, who is seeded three this week.
"There's been loads in the tournament, so I think it's amazing for British tennis.
“I think we're both going to obviously want that title, so I think it's going to be a super good match.”
Reflecting on her semi-final match, Kartal, currently 102 in the world rankings, said: “Obviously, no-one wants to win with a retirement like that, especially in the semis, but I was super happy with my performance today against a super tough opponent.
“She hits a very big ball, which is tricky for me, so obviously happy to ultimately get through it.”
Watson is also enjoying her week in Shropshire after returning to play at The Shrewsbury Club for the first time since 2011 when she was beaten in the final by Mona Barthel.
"I'm just so happy I could make the final here in Shrewsbury,” said Watson, 32, who is currently ranked 157 in the world.
After Waltert won the second set to level the match, Watson impressively took the decider to continue her winning run.
“I'm very happy to get through that match today,” added Watson. "A bit of a rollercoaster - I felt like my form was dipping in and out.
“But credit to her. She has such beautiful strokes that create natural power, so it was so important for me to be on the front foot because if I just came off a tiny bit she was straight up the court and then attacking me.
“I'm just really pleased with how I managed the match and really enjoyed playing in front of almost a full stadium today.
“This home support was great. It's just been so enjoyable this whole week.”
The singles final between Watson and Kartal starts at 1.30pm tomorrow, with the doubles final to follow between two unseeded British pairs.
Rajecki and Xu beat top seeds Maia Lumsden, another British player, and her doubles partner Francisca Jorge, from Portugal, 10-7 in a final set tiebreak in today's final match on court.
Rajecki and Xu - who reached the quarter-finals of the singles this week - won the first set 7-5 before Lumsden, a former Shrewsbury singles champion in 2018, and Jorge took the second 6-4.
Rajecki and Xu will now face Klugman and Stoiber, who won the opening doubles semi-final on Friday night, in the final match of the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament tomorrow afternoon.
Finals day is heading for a sell-out, with the last few tickets, priced £22.50, available to be purchased from the tournament website here
Pictured: Heather Watson celebrates as she reaches the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury final. Picture: James Baylis.
Pictured: Sonay Kartal, this week's third seed, in action during her semi-final at The Shrewsbury Club. Picture: James Baylis.
Pictured: Swiss player Simona Waltert was beaten in the day's opening semi-final by Heather Watson. Picture: James Baylis.
Pictured: Oceane Dodin, the French second seed, was forced to retire early in the second set of her semi-final against Sonay Kartal. Picture: James Baylis