Zeynep Sönmez (born 30 April 2002) is a Turkish professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings in singles of world No. 91 by the WTA, and in doubles of No. 584, achieved in October 2024. Sönmez has won four singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She is the current No. 1 Turkish player.

Zeynep Sönmez
Country (sports) Turkey
Born (2002-04-30) 30 April 2002 (age 22)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS $478,375
Singles
Career record205–129
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 90 (9 November 2024)
Current rankingNo. 90 (9 November 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2024)
French Open1R (2024)
WimbledonQ3 (2024)
US OpenQ3 (2024)
Doubles
Career record13–31
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 584 (21 October 2024)
Current rankingNo. 593 (4 November 2024)
Team competitions
Fed Cup5–3
Last updated on: 4 November 2024.

Sönmez competes for Turkey in the Billie Jean King Cup, where she has a win/loss record of 5–3 as of September 2024.[1]

Career

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2023: WTA Tour debut, Turkish No. 1

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In June 2023, Sönmez made her WTA Tour debut at the Libéma Open in Rosmalen, Netherlands as a qualifier.[2] She reached her first WTA 125 final at the Zavarovalnica Sava Ljubljana, but lost to Marina Bassols Ribera in straight sets.[3]

2024: First WTA title, top 100

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Sönmez made her WTA 1000 debut as a wildcard into the Qatar Ladies Open but lost to Lesia Tsurenko.[4] Ranked No. 157, she qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open by defeating Dejana Radanović, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and Jana Fett in qualifying. She was the first Turkish woman to play in the main draw of the French Open since Çağla Büyükakçay and İpek Soylu in 2017.[5][6][7]

In the beginning of the grass court season, she qualified for the main draw at the Berlin Ladies Open with upset wins over two qualifying seeds, top seed Dayana Yastremska, her first top 30 win, and ninth seed Emina Bektas. She then defeated lucky loser Arantxa Rus in the first round, recording her first WTA main-draw win.[8] She lost to Victoria Azarenka in the round of 16.[9] As a result she reached a new career-high singles ranking of No. 136 on 24 June 2024 before the Wimbledon Championships, where she reached the third round of qualifying.[10]

In September, Sönmez reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal at the Jasmin Open, going through qualifying, and defeated Rebeka Masarova[11] and sixth seed Greet Minnen.[12] She was the first Turkish player to reach a quarterfinal on the tour since 2017, after both Çağla Büyükakçay and Başak Eraydın made quarterfinals in Istanbul.[13] She lost in the last eight to Eva Lys.[14] Ranked No. 148, at the WTA 500 Pan Pacific Open, she qualified for the main draw and upset seventh seed Magdalena Fręch for her second top 30 win.[15]

In November, at the Mérida Open Sönmez defeated sixth seed María Lourdes Carlé,[16][17] Elsa Jacquemot, [18] top seed Renata Zarazúa, reaching her first WTA semifinal,[19] and finally Alina Korneeva, making her first final.[20][21] She defeated Ann Li in straight sets to win her first tour-level singles title and became the first player from Turkey to win a WTA singles title since Çağla Büyükakçay in Istanbul in 2016 and only the second overall.[22] As a result she reached the top 100 for the first time in her career at world No. 91 on 4 November 2024.[23][24]

Performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[25]

Singles

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Current through the 2024 Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Tournament 2022 2023 2024 2025 W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q3 0–0
French Open A A 1R 0–1
Wimbledon A Q1 Q3 0–0
US Open A Q1 Q3 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1
WTA 1000
Qatar Open[a] A A 1R 0–1
Dubai[a] A A Q1 0–0
Indian Wells Open A A A 0–0
Miami Open A A A 0–0
Madrid Open A A A 0–0
Italian Open A A A 0–0
Canadian Open A A A 0–0
Cincinnati Open A A A 0–0
Wuhan Open NH A 0–0
China Open NH A Q2 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1
Career statistics
2022 2023 2024 2025 W–L
Tournaments 0[b] 2 7 Career total: 9
Titles 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Finals 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Overall win–loss 0–1 0–2 4–7 4–10
Year-end ranking 345 159 $345,479

WTA Tour finals

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Singles: 1 (1 title)

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Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
WTA 1000 (0–0)
WTA 500 (0–0)
WTA 250 (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (1–0)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2024 Mérida Open, Mexico WTA 250 Hard   Ann Li 6–2, 6–1

WTA Challenger finals

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Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result W–L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2023 Ljubljana Open, Slovenia Clay   Marina Bassols Ribera 0–6, 6–7(2–7)

ITF Circuit finals

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Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
W40 tournaments (1–0)
W25 tournaments (1–1)
W15 tournaments (2–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (1–3)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Nov 2018 ITF Antalya, Turkey W15 Hard   Daria Snigur 6–3, 6–7(3), 3–6
Loss 0–2 May 2019 ITF Antalya, Turkey W15 Clay   Eléonora Molinaro 5–7, 4–6
Win 1–2 Jan 2020 ITF Antalya, Turkey W15 Clay   Sapfo Sakellaridi 6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Loss 1–3 Mar 2020 ITF Antalya, Turkey W15 Clay   Eléonora Molinaro 2–6, 2–6
Win 2–3 Jul 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia W15 Hard   Priska Madelyn Nugroho 6–2, 4–6, 7–6(1)
Loss 2–4 Aug 2022 Verbier Open, Switzerland W25 Clay   Matilde Paoletti 2–6, 6–3, 6–7(2)
Win 3–4 Oct 2022 ITF Sozopol, Bulgaria W25 Hard   Darya Astakhova 7–5, 6–4
Win 4–4 Jan 2023 ITF Tallinn, Estonia W40 Hard (i)   Viktória Kužmová 7–6(5), 3–6, 6–3

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009 until 2024. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
  2. ^ During the season, she did not play in the main draw of any WTA Tour-level tournaments. However, she played in the Billie Jean King Cup, which is not counted as a played tournament but matches count.

References

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  1. ^ "Antalya, Billie Jean King Cup'a ev sahipliği yapıyor!". www.medyaege.com.tr (in Turkish).
  2. ^ Schulz, Mathias (13 June 2023). "With Serena on hand, Venus falls to Naef in 's-Hertogenbosch opener". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Bassols Ribera holds off Sonmez to claim Ljubljana 125 title". Women's Tennis Association. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  4. ^ "2024 Doha; Tsurenko comes from a break down in both sets vs. wild card Sonmez".
  5. ^ Burak Demirer, Hüseyin (23 May 2024). "Milli tenisçi Zeynep Sönmez, Fransa Açık'ta ana tabloya yükseldi". Anadolu Ajansı (in Turkish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ Oddo, Chris (23 May 2024). "Niemeier: 'I found the joy again'". Roland Garros. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ Garber, Greg (25 May 2024). "Qualifying at Roland Garros: The grueling journey that can change careers". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ^ "2024 Berlin; Turkish qualifier Sonmez notches first WTA main-draw win in Berlin opener". Women's Tennis Association. 17 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Sabalenka, Vondrousova, Zheng matches postponed in Berlin due to rain". Women's Tennis Association. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  10. ^ "WTA Rankings Report – As of June 24, 2024".
  11. ^ "Sonmez outlasts Masarova to make Monastir second round". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Jasmin Open: Lys advances to quarter-finals". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  13. ^ "2024 Monastir; Sonmez wins in Monastir; first Turkish WTA quarterfinalist since 2017". 12 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Lys overcomes Sonmez in Monastir to make second WTA semifinal of 2024". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  15. ^ "2024 Tokyo; Qualifier Sonmez ousts Frech in Tokyo first round for second Top 30 win". WTATennis. 21 October 2024.
  16. ^ "2024 Merida; Sonmez fights back from a set down to oust Carle in Merida". 29 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Zeynep Sonmez de Turquía, se instala en cuartos de final" (in Spanish). 31 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Mérida Open: Sonmez moves into quarter-finals". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  19. ^ "2024 Merida; Sonmez ousts No.1 seed Zarazua in Merida, makes first career WTA semifinal". WTATennis. 1 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Mérida Open: Sonmez books spot in final". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  21. ^ "2024 Merida; Sonmez moves into first WTA singles final of career in Merida". WTATennis. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Sonmez storms to first WTA singles title of career in Merida". WTATennis. 3 November 2024.
  23. ^ "Zeynep Sonmez Rankings". WTATennis. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Turkish tennis player Zeynep Sonmez wins 1st WTA title at Merida Open". Turkiye Today. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  25. ^ "Zeynep Sönmez". Australian Open. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
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