Zeynep Sonmez made headlines with history and heartfelt gesture at the Australian Open 2026 on Sunday. After coming through Qualifiers, the 23-year-old Sonmez first helped a ballkid who fainted beside the court before becoming the first Turkish woman to advance into the second round of the Australian Open at the 1573 Arena.
The incident took place in the second set of the first round clash between Sonmez and world no.11 Ekaterina Alexandrova. During the ninth game of the second set, the ballkid suddenly fell backwards, grabbing Sonmez's attention. The ballkid got up quickly but started wobbling again, prompting Sonmez to immediately halt the game and ran to the her.
She grabbed the ballkid's waist on the courtside and helped her walk towards some shade. By then the tournament's medical staff took over and treated the little soul under the shade. It looked like a heat-related issue with the temperature in Melbourne mounting to 29 Celsius at that time.
Both Sonmez and Alexandrova waited until the medical staff left the arena as the game resumed after seven minutes of delay. The ballkid didn't participate for the remainder of the game.
Speaking on the condition of the ballkid, Sonmez said, “She was really struggling. She said she was fine but it was really obvious she was not fine. So I went to grab her and said 'sit down and drink something, you're not fine.' As we were walking she fainted so luckily I grabbed her."
“I always say it is more important to be a good human being than a good tennis player. It was just my instinct to help her and I think everyone would do the same. I’m happy I got to help,” she added.
Zeynep Sonmez upsets world no.11
Meanwhile, ranked 112 in the world, Sonmez delivered the biggest win of her career after surviving a scare. She won the first set 7-5 before losing the second 4-6. The Turkish youngster then rallied in the third to win 6-4.
Before the Australian Open win, the highlight of Sonmez's career in her five Grand Slam events was a third round finish at last year's Wimbledon.
