Wimbledon 2025: Who Is Zeynep Sonmez? Turkish Player Scripts History In Women's Singles At SW19

Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez scripted a historic win in women's singles with her Wimbledon 2025 second-round victory over Wang Xinyu of China at Court No.15 on Thursday, July 3.

Zeynep Sonmez advanced to the third round of her maiden singles' main draw appearance at Wimbledon with a straight sets win over a Chinese player - 7-5, 7-5 to keep her hopes alive for her maiden Grand Slam title. Sonmez had put up a good fight in order to overcome the challenge posed by Xinyu, showcasing remarkable composure in key moments and capitalizing on crucial break points to seal a straight-sets victory.

Zeynep Sonmez's second victory was followed by her dominant win over Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets - 7-6, 6-3 in the first round of the ongoing Wimbledon championships

First Turk to enter the 3rd round at a Grand Slam

With a second-round victory over Wang Xinyu of China, Zeynep Sonmez scripted history by becoming the first Turkish player to enter the third round at a Grand Slam in the Open Era. The 23-year-old surpassed Marsel İlhan, who was the first Turkish player to enter the second round, achieving this milestone at the Australian Open in 2010.

Now, Zeynep Sonmez has etched her name in Turkish tennis history by going ahead of all her predecessors and setting a new benchmark as the first player from Turkey to seal a spot in the third round of a Grand Slam singles event.

Historic moment for Turkish tennis 🇹🇷 World No.88 Zeynep Sonmez is the first player from Turkey to reach the third round in singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era! #Wimbledon twitter/XXW3r2PoPX

- Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2025

Before scripting a historic victory at Wimbledon, Zeynep Sonmez did not have a single win at a Grand Slam, suffering first-round exits at the French Open in 2024 and 2025 and the Australian Open in 2025. Now, a young Turkish female player has not just one but two wins at a single Grand Slam event, marking a breakthrough moment in her career and signaling her arrival on the biggest stage of world tennis.

After the first round victory over Jaqueline Cristian, Zeynep Sonmez registered her first WTA tour-level win at a Grand Slam, setting the tone for her remarkable run at Wimbledon 2025.

The rise of Zeynep Sonmez

Zeynep Sonmez was born on April 30, 2002, and hails from Turkey's capital city of Istanbul. Sonmez shot to fame when she entered her maiden WTA 125 Final at Zavarovalnica Sava Ljubljana in Spain, but lost to Marina Bassols Ribera of Spain in 2023.

Sonmez's breakthrough moment at the international level came when she clinched her maiden WTA title at the Merida Open in Mexico by defeating American Ann Li in the final. That year, the 23-year-old entered the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career at the French Open. T

This year, Sonmez entered the main draw of three Grand Slam events, the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon, showcasing her rapid progress on the WTA tour and establishing herself as one of the promising stars to watch out for. In July, Zeynep Sonmez achieved her WTA ranking of 72.

Sonmez's ranking is expected to witness a massive improvement after entering the third round of the women's singles at Wimbledon 2025, earning her valuable points to to break into the top 50 for the first time.

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