Article by David Istrate – Published Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10:05 a.m. / Updated Tuesday, March 10, 2026 10:07 a.m.
Madison Keys (31, 15 WTA), the 2025 Australian Open champion, was eliminated in the third round of Indian Wells by Sonay Kartal (24, 54 WTA), score 6-2, 2-6, 3-6.
In the second round, Sonay Kartal managed a first surprise in front of the American Emma Navarro (24 years old, 25 WTA). The Brit prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (2) and secured a duel with former world number 5 Madison Keys.
Sonay Kartal, 3-set win over Madison Keys: “When you're happy in one place, it shows on the court”
The 31-year-old won her opening set 6-2, but the score was misleading, because there were many highly contested gamesand the two opponents needed 46 minutes for this first sequence.
Starting in the second set, Kartal took the lead, taking advantage of Keys' risky play. The American had many direct winning shots, but also a lot of errors, and the 24-year-old athlete capitalized on this.
After one hour and 58 minutes, Kartal closed the match, score 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, produced another surprise and qualified for the round of 16 of Indian Wells.
“Not being the favorite, I went out knowing I had nothing to lose. I wanted to continue what I did in the previous matches, which was to be aggressive and try to play at the same level as her. She's an incredible player and I knew there were going to be times when I couldn't do anything to her. So I just tried to hold on”, said Kartal, quoted by wtatennis.com.
“As a player, you have favorite tournaments throughout the year. I've said in all the interviews that this is an event I can't wait to go back to. There are a lot of similarities between the conditions here and at home and I think the courts suit my game and enhance it. When you're happy in a place, it shows on the court,” added the world number 54.
Sonay Kartal, duel with Elena Rybakina in the round of 16 at Indian Wells
further, Kartal will face Elena Rybakina (26 years old, 3 WTA), this year's winner of the Australian Open.
In the second round, the Kazakh defeated Hailey Baptiste (24 years old, 43 WTA), score 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-2, and in the third round she got past Marta Kostyuk (23 years old, 28 WTA), score 6-4, 6-4.
Sonay Kartal's performance comes in the context in which Emma Răducanu (23 years old, 24 WTA), the best ranked player from Great Britain, was eliminated in the third round by Amanda Anisimova (24 years old, 6 WTA), score 1-6, 1-6.
