Zyenep Sonmez may have wanted to opt out of this advertising experience.
Sonmez’s second-round doubles match with Tatjana Maria facing Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina at Roland Garros on Friday morning ended early after a she tripped over a Lacoste advertisement board and fell into the back wall.
Sönmez was visibly in distress, and the referee quickly called for the medical team. Sönmez was able off the court under her own power. Yastremska and Kalinina were awarded a 2-0 walkover.
Another case where a sponspor’s object causes injury to a player. Oh man… https://t.co/HqtLuXRXvo pic.twitter.com/bj6PuKNDkU
— Budy🇨🇿🎾 (@budybet) May 29, 2026
“5 incidents in 5 days. I left the court with 2 stitches and a bruised knee. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse.” Sönmez wrote Friday morning on X. “Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed? Player safety must come first.”
This was not the first time that a player tripped over an advertisement board during the tournament, with Kaite Boulter also stumbling over the same ad board.
“THESE THINGS HAVE TO GO,” the Brith wrote early Friday morning on X. “Got lucky last night but next time I might not be…”
This year’s French Open has featured multiple unusual injuries, including several related to the extreme heat in Paris this week.
Men’s singles player Alexander Blockx was forced to withdraw from the tournament after getting hurt on the rain covers at the practice courts. American Hailey Baptiste suffered injuries to her ACL and meniscus Wednesday during her French Open match that will require surgery and could potentially end her 2026 season.
The injuries have caused considerable concern among both players and fans watching the tournament.
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has been forced to take fewer risks due to concerns for her safety.
“It’s terrible,” she said, per The Tennis Letter. “I had one moment in the previous match when she played a really deep lob, and I was really far back. I just let it go. I don’t play this ball fully because I prefer to lose the point rather than get injured. And I’m obviously very sorry for Zeynep. Hopefully it’s nothing very serious.”
At this time, neither the French Tennis Federation nor Lacoste has commented on the injuries.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
