Category: 6. Sports

WIMBLEDON — Zeynep Sonmez has made history at Wimbledon by defeating Wang Xinyu 7-5, 7-5 to become the first Turkish player — either woman or man — to reach the third round of a major in the Open Era.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

Only two players from Türkiye had previously won Grand Slam main-draw matches in the Open Era. Former No. 60 Cagla Buyukakcay, the highest-ever WTA-ranked player from her nation, made three Grand Slam second rounds in 2016-17, though none at Wimbledon. Sonmez’s 7-6(3), 6-3 first-round defeat of Jaqueline Cristian had already made her the first Turkish woman to notch a victory at SW19. On the ATP side, former No. 77 Marsel Ilhan made seven Grand Slam second rounds between 2009 and 2015, including twice at Wimbledon, but never went further.

Prior to the Open Era, the last Turkish woman to reach the third round of a major was Bahtiye Musluoglu, who reached that stage of Roland Garros 1950.

Sonmez had been unaware ahead of her match that history was at stake.

“I didn’t even know,” she said. Indeed, while the third round of a major is a milestone for her country, it’s not one that Sonmez specifically set her sights on while growing up.

“I never dreamed of reaching the third round of Wimbledon,” she continued. “I dreamed of winning it.”

No. 88-ranked Sonmez came from 4-1 down in the first set and sealed victory with a brave hold from 0-40 down on Court 17, packed with passionate and vocal fans of both players. After match point, the 23-year-old spent several minutes taking selfies with as many of those who had cheered her on as possible.

Some had travelled all the way from Istanbul to support their countrywoman. One of those was Hudai, who led a group of supporters in rousing chants of “Sonuna kadar destekleyeceğiz seni, Zeynep” (“We will support you to the end, Zeynep”).

Afterwards, Hudai told wtatennis.com that this was his first Wimbledon. He and his friends had run to the tiny Court 17 in order to ensure seats for Sonmez’s match — a decision that had paid off.

“We were really excited to see her — it’s like our second round,” he said. “It was a hard match, there were ups and downs but we tried to make her really feel all the support.”

Tugba, who had waved a small Turkish flag throughout, agreed.

“I am honored to support Zeynep,” she said. “She’s a very exciting woman for us. I’ve been watching Wimbledon since my 20s, but this is the first year for me here.”

Afterwards, Sonmez had a message for the fans in turn.

“I want to say thank you so much for all the support, in both my first and second rounds,” she said. “I feel there are a lot of Turkish people, and it makes me very happy.”

Turkish journalist Alpasen Duven said that Sonmez’s star is rising back at home. Her maiden WTA title in Merida last November rocketed her into the Top 100, making her the second Turkish woman to achieve either of those accomplishments (following Buyukakcay, the 2016 Istanbul champion).

“She’s not yet a mainstream celebrity like top footballers or Olympic medalists in Türkiye,” he wrote via email. “But her profile is rising fast after Wimbledon. The general public sees her as a breath of fresh air for Turkish sports — someone achieving at the global level without controversy. The media and public frame her as hard-working, focused, and determined — someone who has succeeded despite the odds in a sport where Türkiye has little tradition of global success.”

Sonmez’s fans may have brought Türkiye to a small corner of Wimbledon this week, but there’s one aspect of her home country that she’s still missing. Last year, she was able to check out several of London’s many excellent Turkish restaurants — but she’s been too busy on court to do so again this year.

“I really want to go, because I really miss Turkish food,” Sonmez said. What would her order be? A classic kebab, of course. “Çöp şiş — but not lamb!”

 

 

Australian Daria Kasatkina, the No 16 seed, advanced to the third round of Wimbledon by winning against Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Thursday evening.

Kasatkina, ranked No 18, will play Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 19 seed, next.

In the previous round of The Championships, the Australian beat Colombian Emiliana Arango (7-5, 6-3).

Begu, ranked No 115, defeated Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan (7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-3) in the first round of The Championships.

London (Grand Slam), other second-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 53.500.000, most recent results first):

• Clara Tauson (23) beat Anna Kalinskaya: 6-3, 7-6 (10)
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Sofia Kenin (28): 6-1, 7-6 (4)
• Liudmila Samsonova beat Yuliia Starodubtseva: 6-2, 6-1
• Iga Swiatek (8) beat Catherine McNally: 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
• Dayana Yastremska beat Anastasia Zakharova (Q): 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8)
• Barbora Krejcikova (17) beat Caroline Dolehide: 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
• Elena Rybakina (11) beat Maria Sakkari: 6-3, 6-1
• Belinda Bencic beat Elsa Jacquemot (Q): 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Ekaterina Alexandrova (18) beat Suzan Lamens: 6-4, 6-0
• Danielle Collins beat Veronika Erjavec (Q): 6-4, 6-1
• Hailey Baptiste beat Victoria Mboko (LL): 7-6 (6), 6-3
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto beat Katie Volynets: 6-0, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva (7) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 6-1, 7-6 (4)
• Zeynep Sonmez beat Xinyu Wang: 7-5, 7-5
• Emma Navarro (10) beat Veronika Kudermetova: 6-1, 6-2
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Ashlyn Krueger (31): 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Elina Svitolina (14) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Emma Raducanu beat Marketa Vondrousova: 6-3, 6-3
• Naomi Osaka beat Katerina Siniakova: 6-3, 6-2
• Kamilla Rakhimova beat Jasmine Paolini (4): 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Diane Parry (Q) beat Diana Shnaider (12): 6-4, 6-1
• Amanda Anisimova (13) beat Renata Zarazua: 6-4, 6-3
• Linda Noskova (30) beat Eva Lys: 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
• Solana Sierra (LL) beat Katie Boulter: 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-1
• Dalma Galfi beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (21): 7-6 (7), 6-1
• Elise Mertens (24) beat Ann Li: 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2
• Cristina Bucsa beat Donna Vekic (22): 6-1, 6-3
• Aryna Sabalenka (1) beat Marie Bouzkova: 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Laura Siegemund beat Leylah Fernandez (29): 6-2, 6-3
• Sonay Kartal beat Viktoriya Tomova: 6-2, 6-2
• Madison Keys (6) beat Olga Danilovic: 6-4, 6-2

Since achieving the level of consistency which has brought him to a 56th consecutive week as world number one, Sinner has rarely lost to any player not named Carlos Alcaraz.

A surprise Halle Open defeat by Alexander Bublik in June, which cut short Sinner’s brief grass-court build-up following defeat in the French Open final, was his first loss to anyone other than his Spanish rival in 10 months – and to anyone outside of the top 20 in 67 matches.

Having never been beaten by a player ranked as low as Vukic at Grand Slam tournaments, Sinner’s progress never appeared under threat once he took charge on Centre Court.

Sinner was the first player to face a break point in his second service game, but Vukic, who has never reached the third round at the All England Club, was powerless to prevent his progress from that point.

Delighting the crowd with fierce hitting and trademark precision, Sinner proceeded to take 12 of 13 games from there as he captured the first two sets in just 54 minutes.

Aiming to reach the third round for a fourth consecutive year in the early stages of his bid to become the first Italian player to win a Wimbledon singles title, Sinner had to cope with the will of the crowd turning against him as Vukic offered resistance in the third set.

But he recovered from a brief lapse – and two break points – to make the ultimately decisive breakthrough in the eighth game.

He still had to endure the frustration of going from a fifth match point to break point but, after saving that with a stunning passing forehand winner and calling for more noise from the crowd, Sinner polished off victory at the sixth opportunity with an ace.

It means Sinner has conceded the fewest number of games over the first two rounds of the Wimbledon men’s singles at Wimbledon since record eight-time champion Roger Federer lost just nine in 2004.

Mindset change aided Sonay Kartal breakthrough

The tattoo on her wrist is a symbol meaning ‘bravery’ and refers to the point in her career when she knew she needed to change something if she was to succeed.

“I wasn’t the best junior growing up,” said Kartal in an interview in 2024. “I wasn’t that great. A bit of a late developer. I lost a lot of matches from playing too safe.

“I kind of had enough of losing and was like, I need to change something,” said Kartal, a regular junior rival to fellow Brit Emma Raducanu, whose tennis trajectory skyrocketed after winning the US Open in 2021 aged just 18, and who is also looking good at this year’s tournament.

A video of the pair thrashing out a rally at nine years old has been doing the rounds on social media.

“If I have [the tattoo] on my wrist, I can see it,” said Kartal of the more noticeable inking than the emotive paw print. “It’s a little reminder at change of ends.”

Yet the bravery doesn’t just allude to time on the tennis court, presumably, with Kartal sharing pictures of her in hospital just months before her breakthrough at Wimbledon.

“I had a scary few months at the start of the year,” said Kartal. “I said I won’t disclose what it was, but it was health-related. I didn’t think I would be back potentially at all [in 2024].”

But back she was, and the reward for the adjustment in thinking, was a third-round match against the 2023 US Open champion, Coco Gauff.

Losing 6-4 6-0 Kartal has since made appearances in her first Australian Open and French Open championships as well as making her debut for Team GB in the Billie Jean King Cup in April.

Tattoos are added for each of these milestones with an ink count of 14 so far.

A timetable mix-up at Roland Garros meant Kartal had to postpone her initial appointment to add to her 13 other markings as it clashed with a first-round doubles match, an event in which she’s also competing at Wimbledon.

But once her time is done on the lawns of southwest London – hopefully for the Brit, none too soon – Kartal will once again be marking the occasion with some body art, although the design has yet to be decided, and she’s asked fans to help.

“I’m open to suggestions,” she said in a press conference following her second-round victory. “If people throw me some good ideas, I will definitely consider them – 90 per cent I would end up going with one of those ideas.”

Creative suggestions are welcome, says Kartal, who balked at the unoriginality of a strawberry to represent her 2025 Wimbledon journey.

So, the floor is yours, sport fans. Get creative, and send your suggestions to Kartal’s Instagram account – although, if all goes to plan, you’ll have plenty of time to think of some options – Kartal has set her sights on a lengthy run through the tournament.