Tennis Player Races to Save Ball Girl Who Fainted at Open

In the middle of her Australian Open match, Zeynep Sonmez saw something more important than tennis. A ball girl standing beside the umpire's chair suddenly collapsed flat on her back in the Melbourne heat.

The 23-year-old Turkish player didn't wait for officials. She raced over as the girl struggled to stand, gently helping her walk to the side of the court where medical staff waited in the shade.

Play stopped for six minutes while doctors attended to the ball girl, who was eventually helped off the court. Temperatures at Melbourne Park reached 28 degrees Celsius on Sunday, with forecasts predicting even hotter conditions later in the week.

After the interruption, Sonmez faced an uphill battle. Her opponent, 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova from Russia, won the second set to level the match. Sonmez found herself down 3-0 in the deciding set.

But the world number 112 fought back with remarkable resilience. She clawed her way to a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory on her fourth match point, completing a stunning upset over a player ranked far above her.

Sunny's Take

The moment captures what sports should be about. Sonmez saw someone in trouble and responded with pure human instinct, putting competition aside without a second thought.

Her compassion didn't cost her the match. Instead, she channeled that same caring energy into the most important win of her career, reaching the second round at Melbourne Park for the first time.

The Australian Open updated its extreme heat policy in 2019 after researching heat stress effects on players. Officials now use a heat stress scale to determine when conditions become too dangerous and when matches need to be paused or moved.

Sonmez proved that kindness and competitive fire aren't opposites. Sometimes they fuel each other in the most beautiful way.