12 January 2026

Zeynep Sönmez in the Second Round of Australian Open Qualifiers

Taking the court as the No. 5 seed in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, Ms. Zeynep Sönmez defeated Ms. Laura Samson and advanced to the second round.

Facing the 17-year-old Czech player Ms. Laura Samson, ranked 146th in the standings, in the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers, Ms. Zeynep Sönmez defeated Ms. Samson 6-2, 6-2 in a match lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes, inscribing her name in the second round. Displaying an effective performance, Ms. Zeynep won 80 percent of points on her first serves.

Our representative, ranked 112th in the world rankings, will face the Argentine player Ms. Julia Riera, world number 180, in the second round of the qualifiers. The 23-year-old Ms. Riera defeated Ms. Ena Shibahara 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the first round of the qualifiers.

12 January 2026