Sonay Kartal vs Belinda Bencic — Round of 32 — Wuhan Open. Kartal won 6-0, 7-5.

Sonay Kartal beat ninth seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets in the Wuhan Open round of 32. The British player started 2026 at WTA No. 68 but was ranked No. 129 at match time, and the betting market had Bencic as a 66 percent favorite. The two had no prior meetings on record. The first set was one-sided. Kartal broke in games 1, 3 and 5 on the way to a 6-0 set, won every point behind her first serve and made only two unforced errors to Bencic's nine. Bencic had two break points in the set and converted neither. The second set was much closer and featured five breaks of serve. Bencic broke in game 4 to lead 3-1. Kartal broke back immediately, broke again for 4-3 and was broken back at 4-4. She broke a final time in game 11 to lead 6-5, then held to close out a 6-0, 7-5 win in 1 hour, 43 minutes. Bencic held only three of her nine service games. She made seven double faults and 33 unforced errors, and won 53 percent of her first-serve points. Kartal won six of her nine return games and converted six of her 11 break points. She was hardly error-free herself, with 20 unforced errors in the second set. Kartal had opened the week by beating Anhelina Kalinina. Her round-of-16 opponent is Jasmine Paolini, ranked WTA No. 20.