By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS, May 29 (Reuters) – Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez tripped over an advertising sign and crashed into a wall while chasing the ball in her doubles match at the French Open on Friday, with the leg injury she sustained bringing her campaign to an early end.
Sonmez, who was partnering German Tatjana Maria in their second round match against Ukrainian duo Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska, ran towards the back of Court Six as she chased a high ball at 2-0 down in the opening set.
The 24-year-old looked to have given up her chase as the ball bounced over her head but she tripped on a small sign that served as an advertisement for a sponsor and fell face first towards the wall.
Although Sonmez reacted quickly to avoid a more serious injury to her head and face, she stayed down and clutched her bruised right leg, as her teammate and opponents ran to her.
After returning to her seat at the centre of the court and following a check by the tournament doctor, Sonmez pulled out and the contest came to an abrupt end after 17 minutes.
Sonmez is a popular player on the women’s tour and had won the hearts of fans at the Australian Open in January, when she rushed to the aid of a ball girl who fainted in the punishing Melbourne heat during her singles match.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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