Yulia Putintseva
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty ImagesTennis player Yulia Putintseva apologized after her attitude towards a ball girl at the US Open this weekend sparked controversy.
“I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was when she gave me balls,” the Kazakhstani athlete, 29, wrote via Instagram Story on Saturday, August 31. “Honestly, it wasn’t about her. I was really angry with myself for not winning the game from the break point and then became empty of my emotions and deep in my thoughts, that I didn’t even concentrate on what was going on and who is giving me the ball… All ball kids [were] doing great as always at the Open.”
Putintseva made headlines during her match earlier on Saturday Jasmine Paolini of Italy. At one point, Putintseva gestured for a ball girl to throw her new balls, but she then bounced two balls off her body before catching a third. The ball girl appeared confused by Putintseva’s reaction and stood motionless with her hands in the air before running back to the sideline.
The crowd, meanwhile, booed Putintseva as she finally picked up the third ball and prepared to resume play.
Putintseva, born in Russia, ultimately lost the match to Paolini, 28, in straight sets and is now out of the tournament. Paolini will have the next face Karolina Muchova in the round of 16 on Monday, September 2.
Former number 1 tennis player in the world Boris Becker criticized Putintseva for her behavior after the match. “Who does Putinseva think she is… Terrible behavior towards the ball girl!!!” he wrote via X on Sunday, September 1. (Becker, 56, won the US Open in 1989.)
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Renna Stubbsan Australian former tennis player who is now a coach also called out Putintseva on social media. “The disrespect and obnoxious behavior here is unbelievable and typical of her,” she tweeted on Sunday.
Feliciano Lópeza Spanish former tennis pro who is director of the Madrid Open, said Putintseva had humiliated the ball girl. “Shame on her!!!,” he tweeted. “The humiliation of a ball boy is the last thing you do on a tennis court.”
Piers Morgan also jumped into the fray and shared a video of the incident via X on Sunday with the caption: “Disgusting arrogance by @PutintsevaYulia – the ball
girl should have thrown the third one in her taunting face.
The US Open lasts until Sunday, September 8.