French Open star suffers horror fall and retires after crashing into advertising board
A huge row has broken out after another horrifying injury at the French Open.
French Open star Zeynep Sonmez was forced to retire from her women's doubles match after suffering a freak injury. The Turk was partnered with Tatjana Maria for the tournament and faced Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina in the second round.
However, in the early stages of the encounter, Sonmez was attempting to return a ball towards the back of the court when she tripped over a mini advertisement hoarding. It was placed roughly three meters away from the baseline towards the back of the court, but that didn't stop it from interfering with play.
Sonmez tumbled straight into the wall and required immediate medical attention from the physios. But it was decided after an inspection from the physio that Sonmez wouldn't be able to continue, forcing the duo into a retirement just three points into the first set.
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Understandably, fans were left raging with the organizers for leaving them in a dangerous spot, with @TimTtam77 writing on social media: "People talked about this just yesterday and how dangerous it is. If Roland Garros had listened, this injury would have never happened today..."
@AliceStainer said: "This is ridiculous. Poor Sonmez!"
@ScapularTwitch added: “I don't know why they've ever allowed these ads that are clearly in the players' way. Mind-boggling.”
?????? Eso me ha dolido hasta a mí
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) May 29, 2026
?????? El golpetazo que se dio Zeynep Sonmez tras tropezarse con una publicidad durante su partido de dobles
‼️ La turca se tuvo que retirar del partido tras la visita del fisio. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ZoQTqKzS8a
@popalorena said: "Unfortunately it happened again today, and unfortunately Sonmez wasn't lucky to avoid an injury and she was forced to retire. @rolandgarros do you even care about the players after all these incidents?"
Sonmez had already been knocked out of the singles draw following a first-round defeat to Daria Kasatkina. She is ranked 66th in the world, and has reached the third round of a Grand Slam on two occasions, firstly at Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open earlier this year.
Sonmez isn't the only French Open star to have been impacted by them, with Katie Boulter taking to social media to complain about their placement . She wrote on X: "THESE THINGS HAVE TO GO. Got lucky last night but next time I might not be..."
The French Tennis Federation has been approached for comment.
