For many players, the biggest hurdle at the 2026 French Open will not be the opponents, but the courtside advertising. Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez was forced to retire on Friday after tripping over a courtside advertisement and injuring his knee.
Sonmez, who was playing in a women’s doubles match with Tatiana María, was injured just two games into the match. The injury occurred when Sonmez was chasing a ball near the back wall of the court.
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As Sonmez was chasing the ball, she tripped over a small raised Lacoste ad placed on the court.
Sonmez injured his knee and was forced to withdraw from the match. After the game, she said she received two stitches.
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He also called on Roland Garros to remove advertising from courts, citing other incidents where players have clashed with advertising. In a post on X, Sonmez asked, “Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before removing courtside boards?”
Sonmez was responding to a tweet from British tennis player Katie Boulter, who also stumbled upon one of the Lacoste ads floating during the match. In his post, Boulter argued that Lacoste’s ads “should be abolished.”
At the time of the injury, Sonmez and Maria were trailing 0-2 in the first set. Her opponents Dayana Yastremska and Angelina Kalinina advanced by default.
