Zeynep Sönmez rushes to help Ballkid during Australian Open upset win
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Zeynep Sönmez ran to the aid of a sick little girl during a stoppage in play during her surprise first-round victory 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 ball boy faltered, lost his balance and stumbled backwards near the umpire’s chair in sunny conditions at the 1573 Arena.
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The ball girl quickly got up but began to wobble again and Sönmez immediately raised his hand to suspend play. He went to the sideline and put his arm around the ball girl’s waist and helped her reach some shade.
Tournament officials moved quickly to help, but Sönmez had to lift the ball boy onto a chair near the side of the arena. Medical personnel took over to evaluate and treat the boy in the shade. It appeared to be a heat-related incident, with the temperature at the time around 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) but with high intensity at surface level on the exposed concrete.
The players waited until the ball boy and medical staff had left the arena and, after a delay of approximately seven minutes, continued the game.
Sönmez, ranked No. 112, broke serve in that match but dropped the set before recovering to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 and advance to the second round in Australia for the first time.
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His best performance in five previous Grand Slam events was his run to the third round at Wimbledon last year.
The tournament said the ball boy recovered quickly but did not participate in the rest of the match.
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