Kartal overpowered by Anisimova in Queen's last 16
Britain's Sonay Kartal missed the chance to reach a home quarter-final when she suffered a tough defeat by American Amanda Anisimova at Queen's.
World number 50 Kartal was overpowered by the eighth seed in just one hour and five minutes, losing 6-1 6-3.
Kartal had secured the biggest win of her career on Monday against world number 16 Daria Kasatkina.
But a third win over a top-20 player in her career – and a second in the west London tournament – proved a bridge too far.
Anisimova will not have won over much of the British crowd so far at Queen's with victory over Jodie Burrage in the first round and now wildcard Kartal.
Anisimova faces compatriot Emma Navarro in the last eight after the third seed saved a match point before beating Beatriz Haddad Maia 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 earlier on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Australian Open winner Madison Keys cruised to a comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory over qualifier Anastasia Zakharova to book her place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter's crowd-pleasing doubles partnership came to an end after two matches with defeat in the last eight.
The Britons lost 6-2 7-5 to top seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Erin Routliffe in front of a packed court one at Queen's, which is hosting a women's event for the first time in 52 years.
Positive British camp 'spurs' players on
This time last year Kartal was playing outside of the world's top 250 and now frequently finds herself at the bigger tournaments, following positive runs at Wimbledon and Indian Wells and a first Tour title in Monastir.
At Queen's this week, the 23-year-old had already made a productive start but against Anisimova she barely had chance to take in her surroundings before finding herself a double break down.
Powerful groundstrokes and pinpoint accurate shots to the corners of the court proved a handful for Kartal and in just 26 minutes Anisimova had wrapped up the first set.
The crowd, fatigued after a marathon match between Navarro and Haddad Maia which neared three hours in the London heat, had little to cheer in the opening set but offered encouragement to their home player when she broke in the first game of the second.
But an immediate response from the American put the match back on serve before Anisimova took control with a brilliant forehand slice.
Kartal was quick to reply and broke back at the first opportunity but that triggered yet another break of serve from Anisimova and this time Kartal could not work her way back into the contest.
Despite feeling "disappointed" with this loss, Kartal said she can take positives from a significant opening-round win.
"I've still had a great win, probably one of my best matches," she said.
"I'm going to take that one. I feel like I'm still playing great on the grass, so I'll try and take as much confidence as I can into next week."
Her focus will shift to the next couple of weeks, when she will play at Nottingham and Eastbourne, before Wimbledon begins on 30 June.
The feeling of positivity around the British women at Queen's is clear to see with Kartal, Boulter and Raducanu all inside the top 50 and that can only bode well for the run-in to Wimbledon.
"I think it spurs all of us on. We have a really good group at the minute. We're all playing super well. We all love seeing each other do well, so it's ultimately what we want," Kartal said.
'Boultucanu' doubles run ends
Boulter and Raducanu's short-lived but highly popular doubles partnership at Queen's concluded with a somewhat expected but still disappointing defeat by Ukraine's Kichenok and New Zealand's Routliffe, who have won three Grand Slam doubles titles between them.
The pair raced to a 4-1 lead before taking the set with another break three games later.
Fans were offered a glimmer of hope in the second set when Raducanu and Boulter came from 4-1 down to level at 4-4 but they squandered their best chance to turn the match around when they failed to convert four break points in the following game.
Despite saving three match points three games later, they succumbed to defeat.
"Me and Emma played some very good tennis over these two doubles matches and our level was really high," Boulter said.
"The support from the crowd was immense as well and we're really grateful that so many people came out to support us."
Raducanu had only played one career doubles match before this week and made no secret of the fact she was relying on the more experienced Boulter for guidance.
"Katie made me feel really comfortable out there over the two matches and I hope we can team up again soon," the 2021 US Open winner said.
"Given the quick turnaround from clay to grass it's great to get some extra match-play on grass. The atmosphere again was unreal."
Attention now switches to their respective singles campaigns where their results this week could affect who is British number one come next week.
Raducanu can replace Boulter in top spot, which she has held since 2023 when Raducanu slipped down the rankings following injury and inconsistent form, if she equals her results at Queen's.
Boulter takes on fifth seed Diana Shnaider in the last 16 of the singles on Thursday, opening play on the Andy Murray Arena at 12:00 BST. Raducanu faces Rebecca Sramkova on the same court later in the day after fellow Briton Heather Watson's encounter with 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
