Zeynep Sonmez wins hearts with heartfelt gesture at Australian Open 2026 before scripting history for Turkey; watch

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.