Zeynep Sonmez runs and helps a fainting ball girl by guiding her to a seat during her shock win in the first round.
Zeynep Sonmez has earned a place in fans’ hearts as well as the second round of the Australian Open when the Turkish qualifier rushed to the aid of a ball girl who had fainted in the punishing Melbourne heat.
The world number 112 was locked in battle with 11th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova on Sunday and waiting to receive serve in the second set when the girl, who was positioned beside the chair umpire, suddenly wobbled and fell on her back during day one of the main round.
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The girl picked herself up but stumbled again moments later, prompting 23-year-old Sonmez to stop play and run towards her.
With the crowd applauding, Sonmez put the girl’s arm over her shoulder and guided her to a seat so medical staff could provide treatment.
Sonmez went on to lose the set, but she was able to secure a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win and become the first woman from Turkiye to reach the second round of the year’s first Grand Slam.
When Russia’s Alexandrova found the net to seal the match the Turkish player’s way, Sonmez held her head in disbelief as she waved to her supporters in the stands.
The crowd favourite walked off the court wrapped in the Turkish flag while more red-and-white flags of her home nation were waved by fans inside the 1573 Arena at Melbourne Park.
“She was really struggling. She said she was fine but it was really obvious she was not fine,” Sonmez told the BBC.
“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. She was really shaking.
“I always say it’s more important to be a good human being than a good tennis player. It was just my instinct to help her and everyone would do the same. I’m happy I got to help.
Organisers said the ball girl had returned home following treatment.
“If I see her tomorrow or later in the tournament I’d love to speak to her,” Sonmez said.
In a 2024 interview, Sonmez said had she not been a tennis player, she would have been working towards making the world a better place.
“I would be someone who’s trying to help people – kids, women,” she told Turkiye Today.
“In today’s world, there are lots of bad things going on – wars and things like that – so I would probably be there [helping people].”
Sonmez’s victory comes on the back of a 2025 season in which she reached the third round at Wimbledon, marking the best Grand Slam result in the professional era for a Turkish woman.
She also reached the second round of the US Open in September.
