As Cagla Buyukakcay bowed out of the Roland Garros second round Wednesday in a tight three-setter to No24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, she walked away from the court knowing that no matter what, she had just made history for her country, as the first-ever Turkish woman to win a grand slam main draw match.
Just a few days earlier, Buyukakcay and her compatriot, Ipek Soylu, became the first two women from Turkey to feature in a grand slam main draw after fighting their way through the qualifying rounds in Paris. Buyukakcay took it one step further when she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round on Monday. Making history has become a bit of a habit for the 26-year-old this season.
Four weeks ago, she sent Turkey into frenzy when she won the Istanbul Cup title on home soil to become the first Turkish woman to ever win a WTA title. That triumph saw her make her top-100 debut, also an unprecedented feat by a Turkish woman.
Soylu took the doubles trophy in Istanbul that week and it’s remarkable that a month later, both her and Buyukakcay have experienced this success at Roland Garros.
With Uzbek-born Turk Marsel Ilhan also featuring in the men’s main draw in Paris, and the ATP announcing that a new grass tournament will be staged in Antalya starting in 2017, Turkey’s significance in tennis is becoming hard to ignore (they also have an ATP and WTA tournament in Istanbul) and the ladies are proud to be carrying the torch, for their country and Muslim women in sport.
“Of course I want to put a positive image,” says Buyukakcay. “I want to show the world that Turkey is a lovely place to come. We have a very nice culture, the people are so nice. The government is helping all the sports athletes right now. It will help the country move better, I think”
Both Buyukakcay and Soylu hail from the same city, Adana, in southern Turkey, and they train at the same club in Istanbul.
Soylu is six years younger and hopes to be a role model for girls at home, the same way Buyukakcay has been for her.
Buyukakcay is th 1st Turkish woman to play a Grand Slam main draw match. On Tuesday, Soylu will be th 2nd. Historic times for Turkish tennis
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) May 22, 2016
While other Muslim tennis players like India’s Sania Mirza, and Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani faced criticism from conservatives over their short tennis outfits, with the latter opting to wear leggings under her skirt, Buyukakcay and Soylu say they never faced such issues in Turkey.
“We didn’t have any professionals. That’s why we didn’t know how to be a professional in tennis. That’s what I was struggling with as I was trying to be a tennis player,” said Buyukakcay.
Soylu added: “There are really few players at the top and we’re really supporting each other because it’s really important to have good players around you to practice and take you to a higher level.
“It’s really tough, because we don’t have that many players and Turkey wasn’t a tennis country but it has improved so much.”
A major breakthrough for Turkey was staging the year-end WTA Championships from 2011 to 2013, that brought the world’s top eight players to Istanbul. Over 10,000 people, including Buyukakcay and Soylu, showed up to watch the WTA stars and it helped them visualise what they can achieve.
“The (WTA Finals) allowed both Cagla, Ipek and anyone who is playing in the women’s tour to understand that these players are human. They have two arms, two legs – nothing they can’t have,” retired Turkish player Ipek Senoglu, who peaked at 293 in the world, told WTA Insider.
Soylu says the Championships helped the country fall in love with the sport, but that her success and Buyukakcay’s was a result of years of personal sacrifices.
“I know Cagla very well and we’re both very hard-workers, and we really believe in ourselves, and our teams,” says the 20-year-old.
Buyukakcay is taking her role as an ambassador for her sport very seriously and hopes she blazes a trail for many to follow her. She draws inspiration from Turkish footballer Arda Turan, who hit mega-star status at home when he joined FC Barcelona.
“My family supported me all the time. I wanted to be good in the sport, and I knew that it will encourage other people too. I’m really proud to be Turkish and I’m really proud to inspire Turkish women. I think it’s important to have idols in front of us.
“Honestly, when I won the Istanbul Cup, I got so many messages saying they just started to play tennis. So many women play tennis now, and kids.”
More history could be in store for Buyukakcay as she finds out in 10 days whether she has claimed a place at this summer’s Rio Olympics. If she makes it, she’ll be the first Turkish tennis player to play at the Games.
The way things have been going for her this year, chances are she’ll make it.
