Turkish national tennis player Zeynep Sonmez advanced to the second round at Wimbledon 2026, the grass-court tennis championships in London, on Monday after a 2-1 comeback win over American Ann Li in the opening round.
Sonmez, ranked No. 51 in the world, overturned a slow start against world No. 29 Li in a match marked by shifting momentum.
Li took early control of the first set, building a 4-1 lead. Sonmez responded with a run of games, breaking serve twice to move ahead 5-4.
Although she failed to convert two set points in the next game and was broken back, she regained control to win the final two games and take the set 7-5.
Li dominated the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead and closing it out 6-1 to level the match.
The deciding set was closely contested, with both players holding serve through eight games at 4-4. Sonmez then broke to go ahead and served out the match, winning the set 6-4 to complete the comeback.
With the victory, Sonmez will face either American Claire Liu or Belgium's Hanne Vandewinkel in the second round.
It was her third career win in three meetings against Li, having previously defeated the American at the Merida Open.
Last year, Sonmez made history at Wimbledon by becoming the first Turkish player to reach the third round at the tournament, and the first Turkish player to reach that stage at any Grand Slam since 1950.
