Indian Wells: Sonny Kartal’s run to the fourth round ended due to injury

British Sunay Kartal said one match was too much, as a lower back injury forced her to withdraw from her fourth-round match in Indian Wells against world number three Elena Rybakina.

Kartal received physical therapy between matches, and lost the first set to the Kazakh 6-3.

Then, clearly upset at 4-3 down in the second set after being broken, she made her way to the net to shake hands.

The 24-year-old suffered from this problem throughout the tournament and said she had to “stop working” on Wednesday because the pain became more severe as the match continued.

“As athletes, you are very in tune with your body, and I had that for almost the entire event, so I knew I could keep pushing,” Kartal told BBC Sport.

“But today unfortunately there was one game too many.

“[I played] A very strong opponent, so you have to be at your best. “I was far from it but I was able to make it competitive.”

Kartal, ranked 54th, became the first British woman to reach the fourth round in California twice.