By Admin 
Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez is enjoying her practice session on Court No. 5 at the Nungambakkam Stadium here on Sunday. As her training partner hits the ball straight to a girl in a nearby house, she exudes a big smile.
The 23-year-old is in good spirits. She has climbed to a career-best ranking of 69. Not just that, she is the top seed in the WTA 250 Chennai Open beginning on Monday.
On a sombre note, she has been without a coach for more than a year, after splitting up with Mert Ertunga. Sonmez, however, said she is quite satisfied with her mental and fitness coach Mehmet Bayraktar with whom she has been working for the last seven years.
On the importance of a wellness coach, Sonmez said: “We’ve been working together. When you’re in the top 100, everyone hits the ball, I mean, quite similar. It’s important how do you prepare and stay mentally in the match. But hopefully, I will start working by the end of the year with a coach.”
Winning her first WTA Tour title in the Merida Open Akron last year was a huge achievement for one who started a ball girl when she was five years old.
“It was definitely very important for me and for my country, too. I saw that I can play tennis in a good level for more than one or two matches, which gave me a lot of confidence. And I feel very happy till this day because I won Merida 250,” she said.
A trailblazer for her country, Sonmez is eager to put her best foot forward here. “There are no short or long-term targets, I just want to play better tennis each day,” she said.