The revelation of 2026?

Everything seems to be off to a great start!

The Turk is surprising, and rightly so in my opinion. After an average 2025 and a WTA title in 2024, she had never really shone here. It has to be said that in 2025, it’s simple: she never managed to string together three consecutive wins. Yet her tennis is creative, resilient, and you can feel a player who gives it her all. As soon as a higher-ranked opponent stood in her way, it often ended in failure.

So why would 2026 be any different? Zeynep Sönmez has made a clear change in her team by joining the Ons Jabeur Academy in Dubai, with Ons Jabeur in a mentoring role. Jabeur’s coach has also become the coach of the Turkish number 1. This academy aims to focus on young talents and help them take the next step. Since November, Sönmez’s career has therefore been placed within a new structure, which she had been sorely lacking until now. And it really looks like things have clicked.

Three exemplary qualifying matches against aggressive players, without losing a single set and conceding barely four games per match. You can clearly call that solid. But that’s not all. Not exactly lucky with the draw, Zeynep had to face right away a top 10 player very comfortable on hard courts, Alexandrova. The Turk embraced the challenge and took out her second top 20 ever in three sets, in a match where both players traded blow for blow. Ultra-varied tennis, changes of pace, solid play, lots of balls landing in the right areas and into the body. Impressive.

On the other side, Bondár, a pure clay-courter, is having a good start to the 2026 season. She is very fit, athletic, with a decent serve, but far from being the most dangerous profile compared with the four matches the Turk has played so far. The Hungarian number 1 will have to serve very well to keep Sönmez at bay, because from the baseline she risks being pushed around. Bondár shows a flattering stat with around 80% wins against players outside the top 100, but the current momentum tells a different story. Sönmez has now shown a new face and a complete game for four matches in a row; we’re clearly beyond a simple one-off performance.

Finally, Turkey is not a historic tennis nation, and Zeynep is truly determined to show that she’s someone you’ll have to reckon with in the future.