The biggest obstacle at the 2026 French Open for most players isn’t their opponent, it’s a court-side advertisement. Turkish player Zeynep Sönmez was forced to retire Friday after tripping over a court-side advertisement and sustaining a knee injury.
Sönmez, who was taking part in a women’s doubles match with Tatjana Maria, sustained the injury just two games into the match. The injury occurred as Sönmez was chasing down a ball near the back wall of the court.
As Sönmez was running after the ball, she tripped over a small, raised Lacoste advertisement placed on the court.
Sönmez was forced to retire after sustaining a knee injury. After the match, she said the injury required two stitches.
She also called for the French Open to remove the advertisements from the court, citing other incidents in which players have collided with the ads. In a post on X, Sönmez asked, “Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these court-side boards are removed?”
Sönmez was responding to a tweet by British tennis player Katie Boulter, who also tripped over one of the raised Lacoste advertisements during a match.
This story will be updated.
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