The BNP Paribas Open has truly turned into Tennis Paradise for Sonay Kartal. Kartal lost in qualifying to Washington, D.C.’s Clervie Ngounoue but snuck into the main draw — and the Brit hasn’t lost since.

Her three main draw wins, too, have been in straight sets. Kartal’s ranking is all set to climb from its current No. 83 to a new career high of 63 even if she loses to Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old began last year ranked 250th but bagging a maiden title in Tunisia and making the third round at her home major of Wimbledon — both as a qualifier — before losing to Coco Gauff helped to change her fortunes. And all this after suffering an undisclosed health scare.

BNPParibasOpen.com caught up with Kartal, who beat the free swinging Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.

Sonay, you were down 5-4, 40-0 on Kudermetova’s serve in the first set. How important
was breaking in that game?

“I’d say they were probably the biggest points of the match. I went into the match knowing with her game style that she’s going to hit a mountain of winners against me and I think I just had to make sure that I held my serve.

I just tried to keep the scoreboard pressure on the whole time throughout the match and get every ball in play and always make her ask that extra question. I think it’s not so common that a player can go through a whole match playing lights out tennis, so I just tried to keep the scoreboard pressure on her and not let her (run) away with it.”

You’re very outwardly calm on court. Have you always been like that and where, if anywhere, did you get it from?

“I’ve always been super chilled out on the court. I’m chilled out off the court. I’d say my parents are the same, my siblings. We’re all a pretty relaxed family. I’d also say it’s one of my biggest assets. Something I had as a junior.

When I made the transition to pro tennis, the matches meant a lot more. So it is something that I actively work on but I’m pretty fortunate that for the majority of the time, it does come naturally for me.”

What were the days like for you after you lost in qualifying? When did you find out you got
in as a lucky loser?

 “I found out pretty soon, a couple of hours after I finished. Fortunately the draw, the way it panned out, I had a day off the next day. I didn’t really have too much time to be disappointed.

As soon as I found out, it’s: get practice sorted the next day. It was my first time being a lucky loser. A lot of players say it takes off the pressure. Obviously, there’s the pressure you put on yourself but you do kind of feel like it’s a second chance, a free run of things.”

You beat 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round for the biggest ranking win of your career. How important was that win?

“It was a good match for me to win. I lost to Coco at Wimbledon and learned a lot from that match. I learned that I don’t have to kind of overplay and overcomplicate things on the court. I know that coming out of that match, my baseline tennis was pretty much there.

So I definitely used what I learned in that match against Beatriz and didn’t overplay. Just played a very solid match. And I’d say that one is probably the biggest match I won. I think it gives you confidence when you play against those higher ranked players.”

Speaking of higher-ranked players, you get the World No. 1 next in Aryna Sabalenka. How much are you looking forward to that one?

“Obviously, every player wants to test their games against the best in the world. And I think that after having the match against Coco and the match against Beatriz, it’s definitely going to help a lot more for me. It’s a match that I’m going to be excited about. Whatever the result, it’s going to be a match that I’m going to learn a lot from.”

This is your first time in Tennis Paradise. What has it been like for you?

“I’ve absolutely loved it. A lot of the other Brits back at home before I left were all saying that they thought I was going to really love it here and they thought my game style was going to do really on these courts and these conditions. For me the courts and conditions have a lot of similarity to being at home where I grew up playing — slow, bouncy courts in the wind. It’s almost identical to what I grew up on for years so I’m definitely feeling super comfortable on these courts.

Like everyone says, it’s almost like the fifth Slam. It’s definitely an incredible tournament to be part of. "

Tell me about your tattoos. How many do you have and what do they represent?

“I think I have 13. I would say most of them have meaning. There are a couple that are a bit random and were chosen last minute. I wouldn’t say loads have significant meaning. A couple kind of resemble my mum. I got an eagle on my arm. That’s ‘Kartal’ in Turkish and I’m half Turkish. I’m definitely going to add a few more at some point. Just haven’t gotten around to doing that yet.”

A question out of left field to finish. If you could have any three people over for dinner, present or past, who would they be?

(Thinks). “I’d have Kim Clijsters. Growing up she was my favorite tennis player. I would have Kevin Hart for the comedy. And Michael Jackson.”