NEED TO KNOW
- Zeynep Sonmez paused her tennis game at the Australian Open to help a ball girl who collapsed mid-match
- “It is more important to be a good human being than a good tennis player,” the athlete said of the Jan. 18 incident
- Sonmez was up against Ekaterina Alexandrova when the ball girl collapsed
Zeynep Sonmez paused her tennis match at the Australian Open to help a ball girl who collapsed during the competition.
The tennis player, 23, was up against Ekaterina Alexandrova in Melbourne on Sunday, Jan. 18, when the ball girl, who was standing at the sidelines, fell on her back, video of the incident shows.
After falling, the ball girl can be seen quickly getting to her feet, before stumbling again.
At that point, Sonmez holds up her hand to pause the game, and the Turkish-born athlete walks over to the other woman, placing the ball girl’s arm over her shoulder in an effort to help her stay on her feet.
Sonmez continued to support the ball girl as she brought her over to the on-site medics, and, at one point, the tennis player caught the woman in her arms as she appeared to lose consciousness.
The game between Sonmez and Alexandrova resumed after a six-minute delay, the BBC reported.
DAVID GRAY / AFP via Getty
Recounting the incident to the outlet, Sonmez told the BBC of the ball girl, “She was really struggling.”
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Sonmez continued, “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,” she added. “It was just my instinct to help her and I think everyone would do the same. I’m happy I got to help.”
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Temperatures reached high levels at the Australian Open during the daytime events on Jan. 18.
They are expected to go even higher in the upcoming week.
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Sonmez, who is currently ranked at 112, went on to beat Russia’s Alexandrova, who is ranked at number 11.
The victory means Sonmez is now the first Turkish woman to ever reach the second round of the Australian Open, per The Independent.
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