Sawt Falasteen - Turkey's Sonmez soaks in acclaim on historic Melbourne run

The 112th-ranked qualifier dispatched Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-2, 6-4 and faces Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in the third round.

The 23-year-old from Istanbul stunned 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match to become the first woman from Turkey to reach the second round in Melbourne.

"I really appreciated there were many Turkish people, and I felt like I was at home," she said after her flag-waving compatriots roared her to a dominant win over 74th-ranked Bondar.

"In the beginning I was a bit nervous and then I think I got used to it."

She added:. "I felt very good on the court. I really felt the support and I felt like we were all playing together, actually."

Sonmez made history at Wimbledon last year and put Turkish tennis on the map by becoming the first Turk to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

She enjoyed rapturous support on that occasion as well, but said it was even better this time.

"At Wimbledon also there were many people and my first round here, too, there were many people," she said.

"But today was... I have never experienced something like this."

The Turkish fans were so loud that she "couldn't even hear my own thoughts", said Sonmez, who captured the only WTA title of her career in Mexico in 2024.

Knowing her compatriots were watching in the early hours back home on television also spurred her on.

"I know they're supporting me. I know they're watching me. It was, like, 3:00 am, and I know that there were many people who just woke up to watch me."

F.AbuZaid--SF-PST