Australian Open: Yulia Putintseva Reaches Fourth Round for the First Time
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva has advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career. The world No. 94 secured a hard-fought victory in the third round, marking her best-ever result at the tournament.
Putintseva faced Türkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez, ranked 112th in the WTA standings. The 23-year-old Turkish player had already made headlines in Melbourne by becoming the first player from Türkiye to win a main-draw match at a Grand Slam, earning strong support from the crowd.
The Kazakhstani player took control early, claiming the opening set 6–3. She broke serve at the start of the second set and led 2–0, but Sonmez responded and pushed the match into a tie-break. Despite holding a match point at 5–5, Putintseva lost the tie-break 6–7 (3–7).
In the deciding set, experience proved decisive. Putintseva built a 3–0 lead and, after a late break, closed out the match 6–3 to seal the win after 2 hours and 36 minutes on court.
Putintseva converted six of her 13 break points and hit two aces. She will next face either world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy or 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, currently ranked 27th, with a place in the quarterfinals at stake.
