Kartal and Boulter knocked out as Swiatek and Sinner progress

British hopes take a hit in the first round, with Sonay Kartal battling cramp during defeat

- Tumaini Carayol

Sonay Kartal vowed to come back stronger after her 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 defeat by the 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round after struggling with full-body cramps in warm conditions yesterday in New York.

For much of her main-draw debut at the US Open, Kartal battled admirably, showing her problem-solving abilities by recovering from a tough opening set to force a decider. But towards the end of the second set Kartal began to struggle physically and by early in the final set she was cramping all over her body.

The match took another turn deep in the final set as Haddad Maia also began to struggle, culminating in the Brazilian patting serves into the court and throwing in an underarm serve in a dramatic final game.

"It's frustrating," Kartal said. "You can see her at the other end and she had a calf thing or a hamstring or something went. So it made it even tougher. But I think at that point you're just in so much pain, you go into the dark places to try and get through. I wasn't thinking about her or anything. I was just thinking: 'I'm going to finish the match. I'm not going to call it quits.'"

Asked where she was cramping, Kartal said: "Where wasn't I feeling it? We had calves, quads, hamstrings, and we had the fingers [clamped down] on the tennis racket."