Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez rushed to help a ball girl who fainted during the qualifier’s surprise first-round victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Australian Open.
As Alexandrova was serving for the second set to level the tie, the ball girl – stood beside the umpire’s chair – fell flat on her back before quickly getting back up.
Sonmez sprinted over to her and helped her walk over to the side of the court, where she received medical attention in the shade.
The ball girl managed to get back to her feet and was helped off court by medical staff, with play resuming after a six-minute delay.
Russian 11th seed Alexandrova went on to win the set, but world number 112 Sonmez fought back from 3-0 down in the decider to complete a 7-5 4-6 6-4 upset on her fourth match point.
It is the biggest win of the 23-year-old’s career and moves her into the second round at Melbourne Park for the first time.
Temperatures reached highs of 28C on Sunday at Melbourne Park as the first major of the year got under way, while the mercury is forecast to reach 35C by Saturday, 24 January.
The Australian Open updated its extreme heat policy (EHP) in 2019 after conducting research into the effects of heat stress on tennis players.
This research led to the development of the heat stress scale (HSS), which is used to decide when the conditions get too challenging, and when players’ health could be at risk.
