Viktorija Golubic defeated Zeynep Sonmez after an almost three-hour battle and reached the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Nottingham
Viktorija Golubic continued her successful week on grass in Nottingham with a victory over Zeynep Sonmez in the second round of the Lexus Nottingham Open. The Swiss tennis player prevailed on Thursday, June 18, 2026, by a score of 7:5, 4:6, 6:4, in a match that, according to the official WTA Tour draw, produced one of the most uncertain contests of the women’s tournament round of 16. The encounter was played in Nottingham, in the United Kingdom, as part of the WTA 250 event played on the grass courts of the Nottingham Tennis Centre. According to the report by the British LTA, both players had numerous opportunities to take control, and the winner was decided in the closing stages by Golubic’s greater composure at moments when the match was entering its most sensitive phase. With that result, Golubic secured a place among the final eight, where, according to the draw, she will next face the fifth seed Ann Li.
A match in which the advantage constantly changed
The duel between Golubic and Sonmez had a rhythm that very quickly showed why grass is often a surface on which even small changes in serve, movement and return shots can steer an entire set. Golubic won the first set 7:5, but she did not manage to break the resistance of the Turkish representative, who responded in the second part with 6:4 and forced a deciding set. In the third set, Sonmez again remained close enough for the match not to move in a one-sided direction, but Golubic used the key opportunity in the closing stages and closed the encounter with a 6:4 score. According to Tennis.com data, both tennis players had the same number of aces, three each, while Golubic made one double fault and Sonmez three. Such a statistical framework confirms that the difference was not created through dominance on the opening shot, but through the conversion of return games and better execution in the most important points.
The number of break points was especially pronounced, which is an unusually high figure for a match on grass. The LTA stated in its report that the players had 43 break opportunities in total, and according to Tennis.com statistics, Golubic converted seven of 21, while Sonmez converted six of 22. That figure explains why the score moved in waves and why neither tennis player could count on long-lasting security in her own service games. Golubic nevertheless survived the pressure on her own serve better, saving 16 of 22 break points, while Sonmez saved 14 of 21. In a match in which almost every service game could change direction, precisely that small difference in efficiency was enough for the Swiss player to advance.
Golubic confirmed a strong entry from qualifying
The victory against Sonmez carries additional weight for Golubic because she entered the main draw through qualifying. According to the WTA Tour draw, in qualifying she first defeated Veronika Erjavec after a comeback, and then she overcame Sofia Kenin in two sets and secured an appearance in the main part of the tournament. In the first round of the main draw, she again played against Kenin and won 6:2, 4:6, 6:3, thereby confirming that she had adapted well to the Nottingham grass. The duel with Sonmez was a new test of endurance, but also confirmation that Golubic is finding rhythm in Nottingham after a series of demanding matches. In its official profile, the WTA states that Golubic is currently the 76th player in the singles rankings, with a career-best ranking of No. 35, which gives additional context to her ability to remain dangerous in an open draw even outside seeded status.
Golubic has already had notable performances on grass in her career, and the WTA notes in her profile that in 2021 she reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and that in 2023 she played the quarterfinal in Nottingham. Her style, marked by a one-handed backhand, changes of rhythm and the ability to defend with low balls, fits well into conditions in which the bounce often remains low and demands quick adjustment. Against Sonmez, she did not have the luxury of long calm periods, because the Turkish player constantly threatened on return and kept up pressure for much of the match. Still, Golubic managed to remain precise enough in the closing stages of the third set and turn experience into a concrete advantage. Precisely that combination of tactical discipline and resilience was decisive in an encounter that, according to the available statistical data, was played on the edge almost until the final games.
Sonmez stopped after victory over Fernandez
Zeynep Sonmez arrived in Nottingham with strong arguments of her own. According to the official WTA profile, the Turkish tennis player is currently 61st in the singles rankings and in the last two seasons has recorded the most important results of her career. The WTA states that in 2024 she won the title in Mérida, and in 2025 became the first Turkish tennis player in the Open Era to reach the third round of the singles event at a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon. In Nottingham, she also reached the main draw through qualifying, and in the first round she achieved one of the tournament’s more notable victories when, according to the WTA draw and the LTA report, she defeated the second seed Leylah Fernandez 6:4, 7:6. The loss to Golubic therefore does not change the impression that Sonmez showed competitiveness on grass against players of different profiles.
In the second-round match, Sonmez had enough opportunities to turn the encounter in her favor. The fact that she earned 22 break points shows how often she managed to enter Golubic’s service games and how aggressively she sought an opportunity on the second shot. In the second set, she managed to impose a better risk-reward ratio, exploit a drop in her opponent’s efficiency and take the match into a deciding part. But in the third set, she did not manage to maintain the same level of conversion at the key moments. According to the LTA report, Golubic secured passage with a final break, which further emphasized how little space there was between victory and defeat in an encounter between two qualifiers who had already completed a demanding path in Nottingham before the second round.
Nottingham as an important stop of the grass season
The Lexus Nottingham Open is one of the important tournaments in the short grass-court portion of the WTA calendar. According to the official WTA Tour description, it is a WTA 250 tournament on outdoor grass courts, with a main draw of 32 players in singles and 16 teams in doubles. The tournament takes place from June 15 to 21, 2026, while the LTA stated that qualifying began on June 13. Nottingham is an important competitive point in that period on the road to Wimbledon, because it allows players to adapt to the speed of the surface, the lower bounce and shorter rallies. In such conditions, results often depend on details that on slower surfaces do not come to the fore as quickly.
According to LTA information, the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre is the largest public tennis centre in Great Britain, with more than 40 courts, including 13 world-class grass courts. The organizers positioned the tournament as a combined event, with a WTA 250 event and an ATP Challenger programme, which is why the schedule during the week includes both women’s and men’s matches. The LTA schedule states that the quarterfinals in the women’s singles competition are planned for Friday, June 19, while the semifinals are on the programme for June 20 and the finals on June 21. In that broader context, Golubic’s victory represents not only passage to the next round, but also the continuation of an important winning streak in a week in which every additional match on grass may prove valuable before Wimbledon.
What the quarterfinal against Ann Li brings Golubic
Golubic’s next opponent will be Ann Li, the tournament’s fifth seed. According to the WTA draw, Li defeated Taylah Preston in the second round 5:7, 6:2, 6:2, after losing the first set but then clearly taking control of the encounter. The LTA also stated in its report that the American secured a quarterfinal against Golubic with that victory. That duel brings a different tactical picture from the encounter with Sonmez, because Li enters the match from the position of a seed and with a very good ranking in the season. According to the official WTA Tour profile, Li is currently the 29th player in the world, which is also her career-best position, and the WTA states that she has won titles in Tenerife in 2021 and Guangzhou in 2025.
For Golubic, the key will be the ability to again withstand pressure on serve, but also to take the initiative earlier in rallies more often against Li. The match against Sonmez showed that Golubic can win even when exposed to a large number of break points, but against a Top 30 player such a quantity of dangerous situations can be even more costly. At the same time, victory in three sets can have a positive effect on confidence because it was achieved after a physically and mentally demanding contest. On grass, the player who adapts more quickly in the first few games is often rewarded, and Golubic has already gathered considerable competitive experience in Nottingham through qualifying and two main-draw matches. The quarterfinal will therefore be a test of whether the Swiss tennis player can turn a series of tough victories into an even deeper result at a tournament that has known how to offer her success before.
The statistical picture confirms the evenness of the duel
When the 7:5, 4:6, 6:4 score is viewed alongside the available numbers, it is clear that the duel was more than an ordinary three-set encounter. According to Tennis.com, Golubic won 57 percent of points after her first serve, while Sonmez won 51 percent, and both players had similar percentages on the second serve. The difference therefore was not created in one category, but in the sum of small advantages: fewer double faults, somewhat better protection of service games and one more break in the overall ratio. Golubic won 10 of 16 service games, Sonmez nine of 16, while the Swiss player won seven return games and the Turkish player six. Such ratios confirm that the match was a constant battle for control, without long periods in which one player completely dominated.
For readers who follow the grass season, this encounter also brings a broader message about the specific nature of WTA 250 tournaments in the weeks before Wimbledon. Players who come from qualifying often enter the main draw with more matches in their legs, but also with a better feel for the surface than those who are only beginning competition. Golubic used that rhythm to build continuity, while Sonmez, after victory over Fernandez, showed that her progress on fast surfaces is not accidental. Nottingham thus gained a quarterfinalist who reached the final eight through a demanding path, and the Golubic-Sonmez match remained one of those contests in which the final score does not fully reveal how open the encounter was. According to the available data from organizers and official tennis sources, nuances decided it, but they were clear enough for Golubic, after another exhausting day, to remain in the fight for the title.
Sources:
- WTA Tour – official draw and results of the Lexus Nottingham Open 2026 tournament, including the result of the Golubic – Sonmez match and the quarterfinal pairing Golubic – Li (link)
- LTA – report on results and daily events at the Lexus Nottingham Open 2026, including a description of the Golubic – Sonmez match and quarterfinal context (link)
- WTA Tour – official overview of the Nottingham Open 2026 tournament, WTA 250 category, surface, dates and description of the venue (link)
- LTA – official preview, schedule and information about the Lexus Nottingham Open 2026, including information on the Nottingham Tennis Centre and duration of the tournament (link)
- LTA – official schedule of the Lexus Nottingham Open 2026 tournament by competition days (link)
- WTA Tour – official profile of Viktorija Golubic with ranking, biographical information and career overview (link)
- WTA Tour – official profile of Zeynep Sonmez with ranking, biographical information and career overview (link)
- WTA Tour – official profile of Ann Li with ranking and career overview, used for context on the quarterfinal opponent (link)
- Tennis.com – statistics of the Golubic – Sonmez match in the second round of WTA Nottingham 2026 (link)