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Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal beat lucky loser Renata Zarazua to reach the last eight of the Abu Dhabi Open after original opponent – and defending champion – Belinda Bencic withdrew through illness.<\/b><\/p>\n
World number nine Bencic became the first mother to win a WTA singles title since May 2023 when she beat Ashlyn Krueger in last year’s final just four months after returning from maternity leave.<\/p>\n
Kartal, who came through two qualifying matches before beating Spain’s Cristina Busca in round one, was on court for just 57 minutes as she overcame Mexico’s Zarazua 6-0 6-3.<\/p>\n
The British number two and world number 61 will face 20-year-old Czech Sara Bejlek in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Fellow Briton Katie Boulter reached the last eight at the Ostrava Open with a straight-sets victory over Swiss fifth seed Viktorija Golubic.<\/p>\n
Boulter, 29, dropped just two games in each set to set up a meeting with either fourth seed Rebecca Sramkova or Linda Fruhvirtova.<\/p>\n
It is the first time she has won back-to-back main-draw singles matches since the Nottingham Open in June.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n