- Amanda Anisimova proved too good for British No3 Sonay Kartal on Wednesday
- Kartal was basking in the glow of first-round top-20 defeat of Daria Kasatkina
- Anisimova could yet face off with another Briton, close friend Emma Raducanu
American tennis star Amanda Anisimova jokingly offered the Queen’s Club crowd an apology after her straight-sets defeat to Sonay Kartal on Wednesday afternoon.
The number-eight seed at the newly minted WTA 500 in west London was in lethal form on the competition’s Andy Murray Arena showpiece court, taking down the British No3 6-1 in the opening set.
While the pair traded breaks of serve for some time in the second, Anisimova had only to raise her level by half-a-level to overcome the home favourite 6-3 in the second.
On Monday, Anisimova began her journey at the historic venue against another British hopeful, world No162 Jodie Burrage.
But the 23-year-old was quick to offer respects to the dismayed local crowd after coming off the court.
‘I’m so sorry guys!’ Anisimova said during her post-match interview. ‘It’s been some tough matches out here, but I feel like I’ve been playing some good tennis, and I’m really happy to be here.’
Amanda Anisimova offered an apology to fans after knocking another British hopeful out
Sonay Kartal struggled to find her rhythm against the American star on Wednesday afternoon
But Kartal was positive about her prospects on grass for the pre-Wimbledon tournaments
Kartal admitted after the match that despite coming into the match in fine form after an eye-catching top-20 win against Daria Kasatkina to begin her campaign at The Queen’s Club, there had been little she could do about a ruthlessly confident Anisimova.
‘You just take it on the chin,’ Kartal said after the match about her unbeatable opponent. ‘The good thing about the grass is that it’s a couple of days, and we’re back on it again. Disappointing today, but we move on and get back to training.
‘I can’t be too harsh (myself) on today, I didn’t do too much wrong,’ she added.
‘It’s tough, with her game style she hits a big ball, she can rush me, it’s harder to play my game style.
‘I didn’t really get a chance to play my own game, but that was all her doing – she brought the match to me.’
Kartal added that personally, it had been a positive week as she looks to continue her pre-Wimbledon preparations at Nottingham and Eastbourne.
Anisimova could yet face off with another Briton on her march through the draw, should her close friend on the tour Emma Raducanu also enjoy a purple patch at Barons Court.
Raducanu will play her own second-round match on Thursday against Rebecca Sramkova, and full focus will be on the clash after she and Katie Boulter went out of the doubles on Wednesday to number-one seeds Erin Routliffe and Lydumyla Kichenok.
Jodie Burrage was another British player to fall to the in-form eighth seed Anisimova
Should she and Raducanu keep winning the close friends could soon meet in the semi-finals
The 22-year-old could then face a far tougher task against the tournament’s number-one seed in the singles, Qinwen Zheng.
Anisimova may have been keen to politely tempt the crowd over to her side after despatching Kartal, as she will now look forward to facing off with her compatriot, Emma Navarro.
The number-three seed beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a match briefly interrupted by a medical emergency in the stands.
‘There are so many strong American girls right now,’ Anisimova added.
‘I’m sure the match with Emma (Navarro) is going to be a battle.
‘We’ve had some battles before and she’s a tough player.’
