23 January 2026
Zeynep Sönmez Bids Farewell to the Australian Open in the Third Round
Our national tennis player Zeynep Sönmez bid farewell to the tournament in the third round after being defeated by her Kazakh opponent Yulia Putintseva at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
In the women's singles third-round match at the tournament in Melbourne, world number 112 Zeynep faced Putintseva, ranked 94th in the standings, at the KIA Arena. Becoming the first Turkish tennis player to play in the third round at the Australian Open, Zeynep could not start the match well. Having her serve broken in the second game of the first set, Sönmez fell behind 3-0 at the end of the first three games where she made too many unforced errors. Taking the next two games and breaking serve, Zeynep could not be effective on her serve again in the 5th game. Neither athlete made a mistake on their serves for the rest of the set, and Putintseva won the first set 6-3, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
Putintseva was the side that started the second set well. Breaking serve in the first game, Putintseva did not make a mistake on her own serve and gained a 2-0 advantage in the set. Bringing balance to the set by breaking her opponent's serve in the 6th game, Zeynep did not make a mistake in the next game and took a 4-3 lead. Despite taking a 40-0 lead on her own serve in the 11th game, the national racket had her serve broken after making too many unforced errors. Resisting her opponent who was serving for the match, Zeynep broke serve again in the 12th game and took the set to a tie-break by achieving a 6-6 equality. Defeating her opponent in the deciding game, Zeynep Sönmez won the set 7-6 and brought the score to 1-1 in the match. The side that started the final set well was again Putintseva, as the Kazakh racket gained a 3-0 advantage at the end of the first 3 games. Putintseva won the set, where she made fewer mistakes, 6-3, becoming the name to advance to the fourth round.
Congratulations from the Minister of Youth and Sports
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak, congratulated the national tennis player with a post shared on his social media account. Minister Bak included the following statements in his post:
"Thank you for the excitement and pride you have given us, Zeynep Sönmez! We are PROUD OF YOU for writing history once again with your determination, your struggle, and the performance you displayed until the very last moment!"
23 January 2026
