Zeynep Sonmez Struggles to Hold Back Tears After Toronto Crowd Gesture

The Turkish crowd roared in delight as Zeynep Sonmez defeated local hero Rebecca Marino 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Canadian Open. The crowd made their presence felt throughout the match and made Sonmez feel as if she was playing in Turkey. The 24-year-old thanked them after the match and fought back tears while pointing out a particular gesture of the crowd that touched her deeply.

“Yeah, I mean they were singing,” she said in her post-match interview. “It’s called Izmir Marsi, and it’s about someone very important for Turkey. It’s about Atatürk, so thank you so much. Yeah, they made me a little bit emotional. Thank you so much for coming tonight. It’s a little bit late, so thank you for coming here, and the crowd was amazing.”

Sonmez is on arguably the best run of her career. She had recently become the first Turkish woman to break into the top 50 in the rankings by reaching the No. 48 spot. The previous record was held by Çağla Büyükakçay, whose ranking had peaked at No. 60 in 2016.

Sonmez achieved this ranking after strong displays in the grass-court season. This included quarterfinal runs in both the Libema and Eastbourne Open and also a decent run to the Round of 16 in the Nottingham Open. She maintained an impressive win-loss record of 9-4 during the grass swing.

She then began her hard-court season with the Memphis Open. Things didn’t really go Sonmez’s way here as she got knocked out in the second round following a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat to Elvina Kalieva. But the Turk didn’t let this result affect her form and racked up a solid win over Marino in Toronto.

Sonmez was pretty strong with her serve throughout the encounter. She only allowed her opponent to gain one break of serve, while she herself got three breaks during the match. Marino trailed Sonmez for the majority of the match and couldn’t clinch a set despite coming close.

This victory has led to the Turk setting up a clash against Maria Sakkari in the second round. The latter comes into this match after her superb run at the Hellenic Championship last month, where she reached the final. This will be the fourth time that Sonmez and Sakkari will be meeting on the Tour.

Sakkari currently leads the H2H record by 2-1. Interestingly, all of these matches were played on hard courts, and that pattern will continue at the Canadian Open. Sonmez had defeated Sakkari when they first met at the 2025 Merida Open, but the Greek then racked up two consecutive victories in the matchup.

Their last meeting had come in the Round of 64 of the Qatar Open earlier this year. Sakkari had recorded a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory on that occasion and will be looking to replicate that performance as she meets Sonmez in Toronto on Wednesday.

Trending Articles

The post Zeynep Sonmez Struggles to Hold Back Tears After Toronto Crowd Gesture appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.