Zeynep Sonmez of Türkiye plays a backhand return to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo)
Zeynep Sönmez’s historic run at the Australian Open ended on Jan. 23, losing 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6 to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in a third-round match.
The Kia Arena in Melbourne was transformed into a sea of red Turkish flags as fans flocked to support the 23-year-old Sönmez, who was bidding to become the first player from Türkiye to reach a Grand Slam fourth round.
Sönmez, the world No. 112, struggled with nerves early, falling behind 3-0 in the opening set after a string of unforced errors. While she fought back to break serve, Putintseva’s veteran consistency took the first set 6-3.
The momentum shifted in the second set. After trailing 2-0, Sönmez fed off the energy of the crowd to force a tiebreak, which she dominated 7-3 to level the match and send the Turkish fans into a frenzy. However, Putintseva regained her composure in the third, breaking early and reducing her error count to secure her place in the round of 16.
Despite the loss, Sönmez leaves Melbourne Park having etched her name in the history books as the first Turkish player to reach the third round of the Australian Open. Her performance follows a breakout 2025 season where she reached the third round at Wimbledon.
In other matches, Coco Gauff survived a scare as she recovered from early serving problems and being a set down against fellow American Hailey Baptiste to reach the last 16.
The third seed won 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 and will face 19th seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a place in the quarterfinals.
The 21-year-old Gauff is a two-time major champion, but she has never gone beyond the last four at Melbourne Park.
Women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka did not have it at all easy against unseeded Russian-born Anastasia Potapova of Austria, pulling through 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) in just over two nervy hours.
The Belarusian is trying to win the title for a third time in four years, having been stunned in last year's final by Madison Keys.
