Turkish tennis player Zeynep Sönmez opened her National Bank Open campaign with a composed straight-sets victory Tuesday, defeating Canada's Rebecca Marino 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto.
The Turkish No. 1 needed 1 hour, 34 minutes to overcome the home favorite, producing a steady performance from the baseline and capitalizing on key moments in both sets to secure her place in the next round.
Sönmez weathered a competitive opening set before pulling away late, then maintained control in the second to seal another milestone victory during what has become the finest stretch of her career.
The win adds to the growing list of achievements for the 24-year-old, who has transformed Turkish women's tennis over the past two seasons.
Sönmez became the first Turkish player to break into the WTA top 50 and holds the highest singles ranking ever achieved by a Turkish woman, surpassing the previous national mark set by Çağla Büyükakçay.
Her rise began with a breakthrough title at the 2024 Merida Open, where she became only the second Turkish woman to win a WTA singles crown after Büyükakçay's triumph in Istanbul in 2016. That victory also propelled her into the world's top 100 for the first time.
Since then, Sönmez has continued making history. She became the first Turkish player in the Open Era to reach the third round of Wimbledon in 2025 and matched that feat at the 2026 Australian Open after advancing through qualifying and upsetting then-world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
She has also established herself as a regular contender at the WTA 1000 level, highlighted by a third-round appearance in Beijing last year, while putting together another consistent campaign in 2026.
Toronto marks another important opportunity for Sönmez as she looks to carry her momentum into the North American hard-court swing leading up to the U.S. Open.
She will face American Elvina Kalieva in the second round after Kalieva advanced from her opening match, giving Sönmez another chance to continue her impressive run.
The National Bank Open is one of the premier WTA 1000 events on the calendar and serves as a key tuneup before the year's final Grand Slam. Another victory would move Sönmez one step closer to another deep run on one of the tour's biggest stages while further strengthening her status as the leading figure in Turkish tennis.
