VIDEO. The Turkish woman knocked out the 11th racket and helped the Bolgerl, who fainted

Turkish tennis player Zeynep Sonmez (WTA 112) has made a strong start at the 2026 Australian Open.

In the first round, the Turkish woman beat the “neutral” 11th ranked player in the world in three sets Ekaterina Alexandrova in 2 hours and 37 minutes.

Australian Open 2026. 1/64 of the final

Ekaterina Alexandrova [11] – Zeynep Sonmez (Turkey) [Q] – 5:7, 6:4, 4:6

In the third game, Sonmez fought back from a score of 0:3, when she lost one break.

Zeynep is playing in the main draw of the Australian Open for the second time in her career and for the first time she made it to the second round. Her next opponent will be Anna Bondar, or Elizabeth Mandlik.

Sonmez won the most ranked victory in her career. Zeynep became the first representative of Turkey to win the Aus Open main draw.

During the match, one of the ballgirls felt sick due to the heat and fainted. Sonmez noticed something was wrong in time and quickly came to help, bringing the girl to a chair.

VIDEO. Zeynep Sonmez helped the girl who fainted

Respect to Zeynep Sönmez who went to help this ball kid who fainted beside the court ❤️ pic.twitter.com/iHnX2TDaZ7

— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 18, 2026

Video review of the match Yekaterina Alexandrova – Zeynep Sonmez

Photo gallery of the match (Zeynep Sonmez)

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