Kazakhstan tennis star Yulia Putintseva has become the talk of the US Open after she ‘humiliated’ a ball girl during her third-round loss.
The 29-year-old cut a frustrated figure after her 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Jasmine Paolini, however it was her antics during the match which caught attention.
After ball girl attempted to throw balls towards her before she took serve but Putintseva made no effort to catch the balls and instead stood still.
She immediately drew criticism from a number of prominent figures – such as men’s legend Boris Becker – before apologising for her actions in a post on social media.
While she may have asked for forgiveness on this occasion, Putintseva is no stranger to controversy on the court and, here, Mail Sport delves into her fiery past.
Yulia Putintseva ignored the ball girl’s attempts to throw the balls towards her, letting the first one hit her torso (left) while the second one bounced off her feet and rolled away (right)
Putintseva did not acknowledge the ball girl as she caught the third ball, as the young girl held her arms out almost in disbelief at what just happened
Putintseva, 29, was later slammed for her ‘terrible behaviour’ towards the ball girl
The Kazakhstan star has admitted that she’s ‘a gangster on court, but like an angel off court’
Before exploring the 29-year-old’s history, it’s important to understand what caused such controversy on Saturday afternoon.
With the Kazakhstan player losing the first-set to Paolini and going 4-2 down in the second, there was an ugly moment when a ball girl attempted to throw balls towards her before she took serve.
Putintseva stared at the ball girl blankly with her arms down by her side, making no effort to catch the balls and instead just looking at them as they rolled away from her feet – which was met by boos from supporters.
The 29-year-old since took to social media to apologise for her actions and wrote: ‘I want to apologise to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me balls.
‘Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really p***ed off at myself for not winning the game from the breakpoint and then got empty with my emotions and deep in my thoughts, that I was not even focusing on what’s going on and who gives me the ball.
‘All the ball kids was [sic] doing amazing as always at the Open.’
Becker, who won the US Open in 1989, wrote in response to a video of the moment on social media: ‘Who does Putintseva think she is… terrible behaviour towards the ball girl.’
His tweet was in response to one which described it as an ‘ugly moment’ during the match.
Putintseva took to social media to apologise for her actions and said that she was ‘p***ed off’ with herself at the time of the match when it happened during a straight-set defeat
Former US Open champion Boris Becker has hit out at Putintseva’s behaviour on social media
Piers Morgan also took to social media and hit out at Putintseva’s ‘disgusting arrogance’.
He wrote: ‘Disgusting arrogance by @PutintsevaYulia – the ball girl should have thrown the third one in her taunting face.’
The incident has shocked many who were watching the US Open – however those who are familiar with Putintseva will be aware of her fiery tendencies.
Back in 2022, the Russian-born star previously declared: ‘I’m like a gangster on court, but like an angel off court’ after she defeated Kaja Juvan in Rome.
Having saved two match points, she dropped her racquet before letting out a mighty cry of ‘Forza!’ – in her typically outspoken fashion.
At the time, she explained that her upbringing has helped mould her into the player that she is today – but admitted, as a junior, there was ‘too much fire’ on the court.
‘I knew since I was a kid. My father would tell me, ‘Yulia, your temper on the court is too much sometimes.’ But his temper was too much sometimes, too.
‘We were both hard characters when we used to work together. But outside it was a lot of love and chill time. We actually never fought outside the court. But all the time on the court.
Putintseva has previously taken her anger out on her racquets before posting about it online
She admits that she ‘knew since I was a kid’ that her temper tended to boil over when on court
Putintseva – who was born in Moscow – switched to representing Kazakhstan in 2012
The 29-year-old pictured on holiday with Belarusian tennis Aryna Sabalenka
‘Back in juniors I was rushing. I was wild, too much fire. Now I’m controlling myself more. In important moments I’m calming down. I understand what I have to do.’
Perhaps her biggest on-court controversy came back in 2019, when she fell to defeat in the Australian Open before flipping off the crowd.
Putintseva went down to Belinda Bencic in their second round clash, with Bencic prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
After the match, Putintseva offered little in the form of a handshake with both Bencic and the umpire before storming off the court.
Then, as she exited the stadium to jeers from the crowd, she wagged her finger at spectators before then raising a middle finger to the stands.
As fans reacted to the strange behaviour, they were quick to remind eachother that – just one round prior – Putintseva produced an overly-aggressive handshake.
After she won her first-round clash with Barbora Strycova, she shared a typically fiery moment with her opponent at the net as she squeezed her opponent’s hard.
After losing to Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, she barely offered a handshake to both her opponent and the umpire
She then wagged her finger at the crowd before showing a middle finger to supporters
Putintseva retaliated by holding up a middle finger to the crowd as the left the court
Strycova appeared confused and in pain from the incident before claryifying: ‘I like to squeeze hand normal, but she squeezed me, like, hardcore! These bones — oww! Oww!’.
Putintseva’s fiery reputation has become known by her counterparts and even the likes of Venus Williams – who has won four out of their five on-court meetings.
Williams, when asked about the Putintseva’s nature on the court, said: ‘She’s a tough player; she’s really hungry. I feel like she gives 200 percent on every single point. She’s a fighter.’
While the 29-year-old is no stranger to controversy on the court, she has also previously been embroiled in drama off of it.
Putintseva – who was born in Moscow – switched to representing Kazakhstan in 2012 after she felt slighted that the Russian Tennis Federation had not granted her a wild card into the previous year’s Kremlin Cup.
After she beat Barbora Strycova in 2019, she offered an extremely firm handshake
Her opponent was left bemused and in pain after the strong grasp from the Kazakhstan star
At the time, she explained: ‘I have a great relationship with Kazakhstan at the moment, but, I mean, life is long.
‘You never know what’s going to happen. So at the moment I’m happy with what I have, but anything can change’.
Putintseva had been scheduled to compete in the Paris Olympics this summer but missed the competition due to a knee injury.
She was also particularly outspoken throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and even posted a picture of herself holding a sign onto social media that read: ‘We need fresh air to breath’ after being quarantined inside.
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