The Olympic champion from Paris was eliminated in the first round from Stuttgart

On Wednesday, April 15, Jasmine Paolini and Zeynep Sonmez met in the inaugural round of the Stuttgart clay-court tournament. Although she was the favorite in terms of the ranking, the athlete ranked 8th in the world could not cope with her opponent and suffered a painful defeat.

Zeynep Sonmez, the first win of her career against a top 10 WTA player

Sonmez played excellently in the German city, dominated the two sets of the match with Paolini and, after one hour and 16 minutes, she won 6-2, 6-2 for her first career win over a WTA top 10 player.

Therefore, the Turkish woman qualified for the round of 16 of the tournament in Stuttgart, where she will meet Leylah Fernandez (30 years old, 8 WTA). In the inaugural round, the Canadian beat Alexandra Eala (20 years old, 45 WTA), score 6-1, 6-4.

The winner of the duel between Sonmez and Fernandez will play in the “quarters” either with Elena Rybakina (26 years old, 2 WTA) or with Diana Shnaider (22 years old, 19 WTA).

Jasmine Paolini, former world number 4, is having a difficult season

Jasmine Paolini is having a below-expected season. She stopped in the second round in Doha and Dubai, in the third round in the Australian Open and in Miami and in the “eighties” in Indian Wells.

The best result of the 30-year-old player in 2026 was recorded at Meria, where she reached the semifinals, being defeated 7-5, 6-4 by Cristina Bucsa.

Paolini's complicated season took its toll on her condition and the Italian was filmed crying during her duel with Sonmez.

😥 Jasmine Paolini se puta a llorar en medio de su partido.

The Italian was eliminated in the first round of the WTA 500 by Stuttgart.pic.twitter.com/4GeeZ40B30

— Tiempo De Tennis (@Tiempodetenis1) April 15, 2026