Turkish tennis star Zeynep Sonmez has spoken out after falling over an advertising board on court at the French Open and retiring just two games into her doubles match on Friday morning. The world No. 66 had teamed up with Tatjana Maria but collided with a box at the back of the small Court 2, and retired while they trailed Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina 0-2.
Every court at Stade Roland Garros has advertising blocks, roughly a foot high and a couple of feet wide, positioned a couple of metres from the back of the court, just in front of the tarpuillin covers. Sonmez had been attempting to return a ball when she collided with the hoarding and fell straight into the back of the court. The physio came out, and she ultimately had to retire.
Now, the 24-year-old has slammed the decision to place advertising boards at the back of the courts and called on bosses to put player safety first, claiming there had been five concerning incidents in five days.
It comes after British No. 3 Katie Boulter tweeted: “THESE THINGS HAVE TO GO” after tripping over the same advertising hoarding during her second-round defeat to Anastasia Potapova on Thursday night.
Following her retirement, Sonmez reposted Boulter’s comments and wrote: “I stand with Katie. 5 incidents in 5 days. I left the court with 2 stitches and a bruised knee. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse.
“Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed? Player safety must come first.”
Although Sonmez was forced to retire, Boulter was able to play on but still lost to 28th seed Anastasia Potapova 5-7 6-4 6-2. However, she said: “Got lucky last night but next time I might not be…”
ATP No. 37 Alexander Blockx was forced to pull out of the tournament when he tripped on the tarp at the back of a practice court at the nearby nearby Paris Jean-Bouin club. “Unfortunately during today’s practice i heard a snap in my ankle while i sprained it, which is why i had to withdraw from tomorrow’s match that i was really looking forward to. A lot of frustration but we move on,” he wrote on Instagram.
And former world No. 3 Pam Shriver, who is now a coach and pundit, hit out at the lack of player welfare measures at Roland Garros. “Tarps in play, Lacoste signs in play, large white sponsor signage on back wall hurting vision, sub par umbrellas for shade, suboptimal % of prize money, no heat rule… how else are players well fair not being looked after?” she tweeted.