Putintseva Silences Roaring Turkish Crowd In Epic Australian Open Battle

It was a night of high drama, roaring crowds, and tennis at its most theatrical as Yulia Putintseva and Zeynep Sönmez squared off in a third-round Australian Open clash that had it all—fiery exchanges, emotional swings, and a crowd so fervent that the very air inside Kia Arena seemed to vibrate. On January 23, 2026, Putintseva ultimately emerged victorious, defeating Turkey’s Sönmez 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 after a grueling 2 hours and 34 minutes. But the numbers, as impressive as they are, only tell part of the story.

For Zeynep Sönmez, ranked No. 112 and playing the biggest match of her young career, this was more than just a tennis match—it was a shot at history. Had she won, she would have become the first Turkish player ever to reach a Grand Slam fourth round in the Open Era. The Turkish fans in attendance knew it, too. They transformed the arena into a sea of red and white, their voices echoing with every point, every rally, every moment Sönmez needed a lift.

Yet, it was Putintseva who set the early tone. Feeding off the energy—hostile as it was—she broke Sönmez’s serve in the second game and quickly raced to a 3-0 lead. The Kazakh, no stranger to charged atmospheres, seemed to relish the challenge. "Really crazy atmosphere here," Putintseva said in her on-court interview, grinning as she cupped her ears to the crowd, blew kisses, and even danced at her chair, drawing a mixture of jeers and applause. "The guys, look at them. They're very passionate about what they're doing. Very, very great to see—especially against me, because I love this kind of battle."

The match was as much a test of nerves as it was of skill. Sönmez, perhaps feeling the weight of history and expectation, struggled with her rhythm early on. Unforced errors piled up—she would finish with 73 for the match, more than double Putintseva’s total. But her aggression also paid dividends: she struck 40 winners and won an impressive 83% of her points at the net, repeatedly stepping inside the baseline and refusing to back down.

The second set saw Sönmez at her most composed and courageous. After conceding an early break, she steadied herself, broke back at 3-3, and began to channel the crowd’s energy. The noise was deafening, with Turkish fans shouting between points, prompting repeated warnings from the umpire. At one particularly tense moment, after Sönmez squandered a 40-0 lead and was broken at 5-5, she responded by breaking right back and dominating the tiebreak 7-3. The arena erupted, hope alive for the underdog and her legion of supporters.

But Putintseva, a player who has built a career on grit and guile, was not to be rattled. In fact, she seemed to thrive on the adversity. During the match, she distracted herself by singing a childhood song from the 1969 Soviet comedy The Diamond Arm—a quirky tactic, but one that helped her stay focused amid the chaos. "And here it comes, a rabbit song," she told the press afterward. "I'm like, 'I don't know why ... it has nothing to do with anything.' It's just about rabbits who eat the grass. I was distracting myself with this."

The match’s drama reached its peak in the final set. With fatigue creeping into Sönmez’s legs, Putintseva delivered her most clinical tennis of the night. She broke early, stormed to a 3-0 lead, and methodically closed out the match with restraint and precision. The Turkish crowd, so boisterous for much of the night, was finally muted.

The atmosphere wasn’t just intense, it was at times contentious. The umpire had to warn fans multiple times for whistling and calling out mid-point. Putintseva recalled a crucial moment at 4-3 in the third set when a fan coughed during her shot, attempting to distract her. "I opened the court very good. I take my forehand—the guy just started, like, coughing just for my shot. I was like, 'OK, now I'm not going to lose.' Like, really. I was ready to take it all, but I was ready to fight until I die there." True to her word, she didn’t lose another game.

The match ended, but the theater continued. Putintseva, ever the show-woman, cupped her ears to the booing crowd, blew kisses, and danced her way to the on-court interview. She later described the atmosphere as "crazy," admitting she welcomes confrontation and thrives in such battles, but also criticized some crowd behavior as disrespectful. Her antics drew both criticism and admiration, but one thing was clear: she had silenced the crowd and advanced to the second week of a Grand Slam for the fifth time in her career, her first since Wimbledon 2024.

For Sönmez, the loss was bittersweet. She exited to a standing ovation, her breakthrough run intact in spirit if not on the scoreboard. She arrived in Melbourne through qualifying, stunned 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening round, and became a focal point for Turkish fans who transformed Kia Arena into a wall of noise and color. Her impact extended beyond the scorelines. Earlier in the week, she earned widespread praise after rushing to help a ball girl who collapsed in extreme heat, a moment that went viral and further endeared her to fans.

Putintseva’s victory also marked a personal milestone. Having fallen out of the Top 100 after a difficult 2025, she re-entered at No. 94 in early 2026 and now looks ahead to her next challenge: a fourth-round showdown with No. 29 seed Iva Jovic, who stunned No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini to set up the clash. The Kazakh’s journey is a testament to perseverance—her career marked by battles both on and off the court, including her early days representing Kazakhstan, a nation with little tennis tradition, and her ability to thrive in the face of adversity.

As the dust settled on Kia Arena, both players had left their mark. Sönmez, with her fearless play and heartwarming acts of sportsmanship, captured the imagination of fans. Putintseva, with her flair for the dramatic and unshakable resolve, added another chapter to her reputation as one of tennis’s great competitors. The Australian Open rolls on, but for those who witnessed this match, it’ll be hard to forget the night when passion, pressure, and personality collided in spectacular fashion.

With her place in the tournament secure for now, Putintseva will look to ride the momentum into the next round, while Sönmez’s star only seems to be rising. One thing’s for sure: tennis fans will be watching both closely in the weeks and months ahead.