Zeynep Sönmez on Social Media Toxicity, Turkish Fame, & Alex Eala | Love All w/ Kim Clijsters

Served with Andy Roddick

Served Media

Sports, Tennis, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Join 4-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters and tennis reporter Blair Henley as they welcome one of the most exciting rising stars on the WTA Tour, Turkey’s Zeynep Sönmez. Zeynep shares what it feels like to go from watching Kim’s Australian Open comeback on TV to now receiving tactical advice from her. The conversation explores the mental strength required to represent a developing tennis nation, along with Zeynep’s perspective on social media pressures and her friendships with the girls on tour. Plus, Kim and Blair break down the biggest stories from Indian Wells, including Naomi Osaka’s headline-grabbing fashion, the drama surrounding Mirra Andreeva’s emotional loss and viral post-match moment, and a deeper look at how players manage pressure, emotions, and expectations at the highest level of the sport. Welcome to Love All! If you want to hang out with us behind the scenes follow us on all of our socials: https://www.instagram.com/loveallpodcast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@loveallpodcast https://x.com/loveallpodcast ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Welcome to Love All 3:55 Henley's Headlines: Naomi Osaka's Indian Wells fashion 6:08 Henley's Headlines: Sabalenka's engagement ring 7:41 Henley's Headlines: Siniakova vs. Andreeva controversy 12:05 Henley's Headlines: Player safety and social media threats 15:18 Kim-formation: Deep dive into Naomi Osaka's comeback 21:13 Zeynep Sonmez joins the show 23:05 Indian Wells reflections and the decision to play Merida 24:43 Working with coach Issam Jellali and the mentorship of Ons Jabeur 30:39 Mental Toughness: Dealing with media pressure and social media in Turkey 40:27 Pinch-me moment: Wimbledon 2025 and the museum kit request 44:21 "Girlhood Forever": Navigating friendships and rivalries on tour 48:52 Zeynep asks Kim about handling expectations 55:04 Scouting the Tour: Breaking down matches against Alex Eala 56:59 Playing against big hitters 1:08:45 The post-match ritual: Notebooks, film study, and the 24-hour buffer 1:14:04 Closing thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi everyone, welcome back to a new episode of Love All.
0:10.0	On Sunday, we had Sun in New Jersey and I was kind of drawn between being on the couch to watch Indian Wells on TV or to do a little bit of yard work.
0:19.0	And we did some yard work. We, the boys, my husband,
0:23.7	we all did it together. And it was really nice. I got a little bit of color. I'm excited that
0:29.4	we had the feel of a little bit of spring weather. What was it? What did you do, Blair, over the
0:37.3	weekend? I love that for you, Kim.
0:39.5	And I'm so glad you said something because I was like, Kim does look Tanner today. I know.
0:44.1	It is, right? It was the yard work. So I love to hear that from you. I, as you all know, I filmed our last
0:51.7	episode in Indian Wells. I stayed for a couple days after that,
0:55.6	had a really fun time filming courtside confessions with the ATP, which will, I think,
1:01.0	initially be released on TikTok so we know that Kim won't see it. I'll let all of you know.
1:06.3	Thank you, Blair. Fill me in. Actually, Kim, there was there was a question that I had the chance to ask Archer Feese, who was fantastic, by the way.
1:17.0	And I wanted to ask the question to you as well. I was asking him to essentially give his,
1:23.3	we would probably use the word swag. The kids would probably say aura, Riz, drip.
1:29.3	Yes, those are the words I hear in my household.
1:31.7	Yes, exactly.
1:33.2	So I asked him if he could give his ratings on the ATP tour right now.
1:37.9	But it made me wonder, Kim, in your prime, who had the most aura on tour? Can you give us your top three? I would say I grew up when
1:50.4	I think Anna Kornikova was obviously, you know, in the spotlight a lot. And so I would say she
1:57.9	was always a player that I remember everybody would watch, right?
2:01.6	The men, the women, the players, like, how is she going to show up with the players party?
2:06.6	What is she wearing on court?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Served Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Served Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.