Kazakhstan tennis player Yulia Putintseva has generated quite a buzz at the US Open following an incident involving a ball girl during her third-round match. The 29-year-old appeared visibly frustrated after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Jasmine Paolini. However, it was her behavior during the match that drew attention.
As the ball girl tried to toss balls to her before she served, Putintseva chose to stand still instead of trying to catch them. She immediately drew criticism from several notable figures, including tennis legend Boris Becker, before offering an apology for her behavior in a social media post. Although she sought forgiveness this time, Putintseva has a history of court controversies.
Slammed for Her Rude Behavior
After losing the first set to Paolini and falling behind 4-2 in the second set, Putintseva had an unpleasant moment when a ball girl tried to hand her balls before she served.
Putintseva looked at the ball girl with a blank expression, keeping her arms at her sides and making no attempt to catch the balls as they rolled away, which led to boos from the crowd.
The 29-year-old has since apologized on social media, writing, "I want to apologize 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, the 1989 US Open champion, reacted to a video of the incident on social media by saying, "Who does Putintseva think she is... terrible behavior toward the ball girl." His tweet came in response to a post that had labeled the moment as an "ugly incident" during the match.
Putinseva's Many Controversies
The incident has left several viewers of the US Open shocked, but those who know Putintseva are aware of her often fiery demeanor. In 2022, the Russian-born athlete described herself as "like a gangster on the court, but like an angel off it" after her victory over Kaja Juvan in Rome.
Having saved two match points, she tossed her racquet and let out a powerful shout of "Forza!" in her usual expressive style.
She attributed her competitive nature to her upbringing, though she acknowledged that, as a junior player, she displayed "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.
"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."
Putintseva's biggest controversy came back in 2019 at the Australian Open, where she lost to Belinda Bencic with scores of 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
After the match, she barely shook hands with Bencic and the umpire before angrily leaving the court. As she exited the stadium amidst the crowd's jeers, she wagged her finger at the spectators and then raised her middle finger towards them.
Fans, reacting to this odd behavior, quickly recalled that just one round earlier, Putintseva had given an overly aggressive handshake.
Draft off Court
Putintseva's fiery reputation is well-known among her peers, including Venus Williams, who has won four of their five encounters. When asked about Putintseva's on-court demeanor, Williams commented, "She's a tough player; she's really hungry. I feel like she gives 200 percent on every single point. She's a fighter."
Although the 29-year-old is accustomed to on-court controversies, she has also been involved in drama off the court.
Putintseva, born in Moscow, began representing Kazakhstan in 2012 after feeling slighted by the Russian Tennis Federation's refusal to grant her a wild card for the previous year's Kremlin Cup.
She said at the time, "I have a great relationship with Kazakhstan at the moment, but 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."
