Watch: Zeynep Sonmez stop play to help ballkid at Australian Open

Dubai: Zeynep Sonmez stepped in to help an ailing ballkid who fainted during her Australian Open match on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Turkish qualifier was competing in the first round, where she went on to claim a surprise victory over world No 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova.

During the ninth game of the second set, as Sonmez was receiving serve, a ballkid began to wobble, lost her balance and stumbled backward near the umpire’s chair under sunny conditions at 1573 Arena. Although the ballkid briefly stood up, she soon started swaying again, prompting Sönmez to immediately raise her hand to stop play.

Sonmez rushed to the courtside, wrapped an arm around the ballkid’s waist and guided her toward the shade. Tournament officials responded swiftly, but Sonmez helped lift the ballkid into a chair near the edge of the court, where medical staff took over and provided treatment in shaded conditions. The incident appeared to be heat-related, with temperatures around 29°C (84°F) and intense heat reflecting off the exposed hardcourt.

Play resumed after a delay of about seven minutes, once the ballkid and medical personnel had left the arena.

Ranked No 112, Sonmez broke serve in that game but went on to lose the set before regrouping to secure a 7—5, 4—6, 6—4 victory, advancing to the second round in Australia for the first time in her career.

Her best previous Grand Slam result was reaching the third round at Wimbledon last year.

Tournament officials later confirmed that the ballkid recovered quickly but did not return for the remainder of the match.