Zeynep Sonmez has become the first Turkish woman to reach the second round at the Australian Open 2026 on Sunday. Sonmez won against world no.11 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the overall game, but faced a defeat in the second set. The score after the three sets was 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Despite great effort in the game, Zeynep Sonmeze secured the spotlight after a heartwarming gesture of supporting a ball kid while she fainted due to the heat.

The incident happened when Ekaterina Alexandrova was serving for the second set, and the ball girl collapsed by the umpire’s chair. Sonmez promptly held the kid by her waist, and Alexandrova rushed to get the ice bags from a courtside fridge before she received medical attention. Due to the temperature touching the 28 degree celsius match was halted for a few minutes, which was later resumed.

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What does Zeynep Sonmez have to say?

Speaking on the condition of the ballkid, Sonmez told BBC, “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.”

She added, “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”.

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Australia Open 2026 Schedule

DaySessionDateTimeFeatured Matches
1DaySun, Jan 1811:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
1NightSun, Jan 187:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
2DayMon, Jan 1911:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
2NightMon, Jan 197:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
3DayTue, Jan 2011:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
3NightTue, Jan 207:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 1st Round
4DayWed, Jan 2111:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 2nd Round
4NightWed, Jan 217:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 2nd Round
5DayThu, Jan 2211:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 2nd Round
5NightThu, Jan 227:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 2nd Round
6DayFri, Jan 2311:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 3rd Round
6NightFri, Jan 237:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 3rd Round
7DaySat, Jan 2411:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 3rd Round
7NightSat, Jan 247:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 3rd Round
8DaySun, Jan 2511:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 4th Round
8NightSun, Jan 257:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 4th Round
9DayMon, Jan 2611:00 AMMen’s and Women’s 4th Round
9NightMon, Jan 267:00 PMMen’s and Women’s 4th Round
10DayTue, Jan 2711:00 AMMen’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
10NightTue, Jan 277:00 PMMen’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
11DayWed, Jan 2811:00 AMMen’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
11NightWed, Jan 287:00 PMMen’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
12TwilightThu, Jan 2911:00 AMWomen’s Semifinals
13DayFri, Jan 3012:00 PMMen’s Semifinal 1
13NightFri, Jan 307:30 PMMen’s Semifinal 2
14TwilightSat, Jan 317:30 PMWomen’s Final
15TwilightSun, Feb 17:30 PMMen’s Final

Note: The official schedule and court assignments are usually posted the night before the matches