01/18/26 03:28:00
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01/18 03:27 CST Zeynep Snmez rushes to aid ballkid during Australian Open
upset win
Zeynep Snmez rushes to aid ballkid during Australian Open upset win
By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Zeynep Snmez rushed to the aid of an ailing
ballkid in an interruption to play during her first-round upset win over No. 11
Ekaterina Alexandrova on Sunday at the Australian Open.
The 23-year-old Turkish qualifier was receiving serve in the ninth game of the
second set when a ballkid wobbled, lost balance and stumbled backward near the
umpire's chair in sunny conditions at 1573 Arena.
The ballkid stood up quickly but started wobbling again, and Snmez immediately
held up her hand to suspend play. She went to the courtside and put an arm
around the ballkid's waist and helped her toward some shade.
Tournament officials moved quickly to help, but Snmez had to lift the ballkid
into a chair near the side of the arena. Medical staff took over to assess and
treat the ballkid in the shade. It appeared to be a heat-related incident, with
the temperature at the time around 29 Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) but with high
intensity at surface level on the exposed hardcourt.
The players waited until the ballkid and the medical staff had left the arena
and, after a delay of about seven minutes, continued the match.
Snmez, ranked No. 112, broke serve in that game but lost the set before
rallying to clinch it 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round in Australia
for the first time.
Her best performance in five previous Grand Slam events was a run to the third
round at Wimbledon last year.
The tournament said the ballkid quickly recovered but didn't participate in the
remainder of the match.
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