Tennis-Qualifier Kartal reaches third round and a date with Gauff

By Clare Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - Qualifier Sonay Kartal wowed the home crowd on Wednesday, punching her way to a 6-3 5-7 6-3 Wimbledon second-round victory over France's Clara Burel, ranked 253 places above her.

The win on a raucous Court Three lined the 22-year-old up for a third-round contest against another crowd pleaser in second-seeded American Coco Gauff.

"It’s going to be a tough match. It’s going to be a fun match, and I hope I can do the British crowd proud," Kartal said on court after clinching the match with a stop volley.

Kartal, ranked 298, beat 29th seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the first round and said she had never expected to compete because of injury and illness at the start of the year.

"Monday was a high and now I have topped that today," she said. "To come back in and go straight into the deep end, and have my biggest wins so far since recovering, I’m super proud of that."

Kartal was leading in the second set before losing intensity and allowing Burel back into the contest.

The combative and counterpunching Londoner said she used the crowd's energy to revive her fortunes.

"I just tried to put everything behind me. When I needed the crowd the most they helped me in that third set. I owe that to you guys today," she told the cheering spectators.

Gauff, who dispatched Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2 6-1 earlier, said: "It will be tough to face a Brit obviously, especially on grass. I think that they always do really well, but especially in this environment."

(Reporting by Clare Lovell; Editing by Hugh Lawson)