The Turkish qualifier was receiving his serve in the ninth game of the second set when a ball boy staggered, lost his balance and fell backwards near the referee’s chair in sunny conditions at the 1573 Arena.
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The ball boy quickly got up, but staggered again and Sönmez immediately raised his hand to stop play. He went to the edge of the court, put his arm around the ball boy’s waist and helped her get to a shady spot.
Tournament officials rushed to help, but Sönmez had to lift the ball boy and sit him in a chair near the side of the arena. Medical staff took charge of evaluating and treating the ball boy in the shade.
The players waited until the ball boy and medical staff left the stadium and, after a delay of about seven minutes, continued the game.
Sönmez broke serve in that game, but lost the set before coming back to take the win 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. advance to the second round in Australia for the first time.
Her best performance in five previous Grand Slam events was reaching the third round at Wimbledon last year.
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