Zeynep Sönmez rushes to aid ballkid during Australian Open upset win

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Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and umpire Chase Urban help a ball kid who fainted, from the court during her first round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Zeynep Sonmez, right, of Turkey is congratulated by Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia following their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) — Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and umpire Chase Urban help a ball kid who fainted, from the court during her first round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

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3:44 AM on Sunday, January 18

By JOHN PYE

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Zeynep Sönmez rushed to the aid of an ailing ballkid in an interruption to play during her first-round upset win over No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova on Sunday at the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old Turkish qualifier was receiving serve in the ninth game of the second set when a ballkid wobbled, lost balance and stumbled backward near the umpire's chair in sunny conditions at 1573 Arena.

The ballkid stood up quickly but started wobbling again, and Sönmez immediately held up her hand to suspend play. She went to the courtside and put an arm around the ballkid's waist and helped her toward some shade.

Tournament officials moved quickly to help, but Sönmez had to lift the ballkid into a chair near the side of the arena. Medical staff took over to assess and treat the ballkid in the shade. It appeared to be a heat-related incident, with the temperature at the time around 29 Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) but with high intensity at surface level on the exposed hardcourt.

The players waited until the ballkid and the medical staff had left the arena and, after a delay of about seven minutes, continued the match.

Sönmez, ranked No. 112, broke serve in that game but lost the set before rallying to clinch it 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round in Australia for the first time.

Her best performance in five previous Grand Slam events was a run to the third round at Wimbledon last year.

The tournament said the ballkid quickly recovered but didn't participate in the remainder of the match.

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