'Sticking to my word': Sonay Kartal gets new tattoo honoring Wimbledon run

Sonay Kartal showed off the new tattoos she got after her remarkable run at Wimbledon. The 23-year-old Brit was one of the biggest surprises of this year's tournament, becoming the only local player to reach the Last 16 and achieving her best historical ranking.

Kartal debuted with a notable victory against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko (seeded 20th). Afterward, she announced to the press that she would celebrate with a tattoo if she reached the second week.

And so it was. After reaching the third round of Wimbledon in 2024, this time she improved her record by advancing to the fourth round. Along the way, she eliminated Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry. She was the only local player to reach the Round of 16 in the women's draw but ultimately fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.

Kartal has drawn attention with the 14 tattoos she declared having while competing in the tournament. However, in a recent video from the LTA shared on social media, the tennis player showed that she's added to her count with two new tattoos.

"When I was like 17, I was never going to get a tattoo, never going to, like, dye my hair blonde, was one of them. And then yeah, first tattoo was a bit of like a drunken one, and yeah, since then it’s so addictive," she mentioned at the beginning of the video.

The video shows Kartal getting tattooed at a studio. She chose a lightning bolt cloud on her right forearm, in homage to her time at Wimbledon. "Every time you see this, it just reminds me of Centre Court. That like, moment of walking out. Special on that one."

Precisely for her Round of 16 match against Pavlyuchenkova, there was a rumble of thunder during her entrance to the court. "As soon as I came off, my DMs were like, 'You’ve got to get the thunder and lightning.' And I was like, 'That’s such a good idea.'"

Kartal has secured her first-ever entry into the top-50 of the ranking, currently positioned as World No. 44. This also makes her the Brit No. 2 for the first time, only behind Katie Boulter (No. 40) and one spot ahead of Emma Raducanu (No. 45).

Kartal also got a tattoo of the number 329, which relates to her debut in the Billie Jean King Cup tie in April of this year. "329 was another tattoo promise I made, that if I played a live Billie Jean King Cup tie, then I’d get my colour holder number tattooed on. So, sticking to my word, getting it on again somewhere I can see it," she explained.

The Brit acted as No. 2 – replacing the injured Emma Raducanu – and secured singles victories against Jule Niemeier and Eva Vedder. Both ties ended in British wins (2-1), guaranteeing the Brits' passage to the BJK Cup Finals in Shenzhen in September. "Two for two on the debut, it was a dream debut. Couldn’t have wanted a better outcome on that one to be honest with you."