Zeynep Sonmez rushed to the aid of an ailing ball kid 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 backwards near the umpire’s chair in sunny conditions at 1573 Arena.
The ballkid stood up quickly but started wobbling again, and Sonmez 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 Sonmez 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 29ºC (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.
Tennis Australia have since confirmed that the youngster received medical attention at Melbourne Park. She was later allowed to return home.
Zeynep Sonmez (right) rushed to the aid of an ailing ball kid in an interruption to play during her first-round upset win over No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova on Sunday
The youngster had been standing by the umpires’ chair, before she worryingly fell backwards
Sonmez stopped the match and immediately ran over to the ball kid, who had gotten back to her feet attempting to continue her job
‘She was really struggling,’ Sonmez told BBC Sport after the match. ‘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 was really shaking.
‘I always say it is more important to be a good human being than a good tennis player,’ added world number 112 Sonmez.
‘It was just my instinct to help her and I think everyone would do the same. I’m happy I got to help.’
Tennis Australia confirmed that the girl had received medical attention on site before going home
Sonmez, 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.
Sonmez has since been been praised by fans on social media, with many branding her a ‘class act’.
‘Respect for Zeynep Sonmez shows her character off the field as well,’ one wrote on X.
Tennis reporter Jose Morgado wrote: Sonmez won more than once today at the Australian Open. Fantastic gesture with the ball girl here.’
It comes after another ball kid collapsed last week at Melbourne Park during Luca van Assche’s qualifying match against Moez Echargui.
Echargui saw the ball kid collapse in the sweltering heat, before also rushing to the aid of the youngster.
Tennis Australia later confirmed that the ball kid had also received medical attention but was later cleared to return to court.