Wuhan Open: GB's Sonay Kartal beats Anhelina Kalinina, but Zheng Qinwen withdraws

Sonay Kartal says she has "thrown herself in the deep end" since returning from a six-month injury absence after beating Anhelina Kalinina to reach the Wuhan Open second round.

The British number five, 24, reached the third round at the Beijing Open earlier this month in her first WTA tournament since suffering a stress fracture in her back.

She followed that up by defeating Ukraine's Kalinina 7-5 6-3 in an hour and 31 minutes in Wuhan.

World number 170 Kartal will face Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic next.

"I've thrown myself in the deep end, playing [my] first few events playing the best players in the world," said Kartal.

"It's definitely a challenge, but I'm happy with the level that I've managed to produce. There is still got a long way to go to get to back where I left off, but I'm happy. It's looking positive and I'm feeling good."

Kartal returned to action last month for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup team event, where she narrowly lost to Czech Marie Bouzkova, who sat 26th in the world rankings.

Wins over Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia and Wang Xinyu followed for Kartal in Beijing, before she lost to Armenia's Alina Charaeva.

Against world number 48 Kalinina, Kartal served four aces and won 23 of 30 points when landing her first serve.

She sealed her spot in the last-32 stage at the third time of asking after Kalanina saved two match points.

Zheng Qinwen withdrew from her home tournament in Wuhan after becoming the first Chinese player to win the China Open.

In a statement, Zheng said she would not be competing because her "body is feeling very fatigued" after "an intense run of matches".

Zheng underwent elbow surgery last year and had struggled with form and fitness over the past 12 months, before a recent upturn led to her triumph in Beijing.