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Spectators boo US Open player for her ‘ugly’ behavior toward ball girl: ‘I’m like a gangster on court’

September 2, 2024 | | Print Article

Tennis star Yulia Putintseva sparked a strong reaction from the crowd at the U.S. Open for her attitude toward a ball girl that went viral.

The 29-year-old Kazakhstani pro player, who went on to lose, 6-3, 6-4 to her Italian opponent, Jasmine Paolini, issued a public apology on social media after coming under fire for what many saw as disrespectful behavior.

Putintseva was seen watching as two balls were bounced toward her and hit the ground with no effort on her part to retrieve one. The second bounced off and she watched it roll away. By the time the third ball was tossed, the player was booed by spectators and the ball girl herself seemed a bit stunned by the behavior.

(Video Credit: Tennis Actu TV)

The criticism came in quickly.

Former US Open champion Boris Becker wrote on X, “Who does Putintseva think she is …Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl !!!”

“Disgusting arrogance by @PutintsevaYulia – the ball girl should have thrown the 3rd one in her taunting face,” wrote British journalist Piers Morgan.

Others slammed her as “arrogant” and disrespectful, with many suggesting she be fined.

Putintseva soon responded, posting a statement on an Instagram story.

“I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way i was, when she was giving me balls,” she wrote. “Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really pissed at my self by 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 whats going on and who gives me the ball… All the ball kids was doing amazing as always at the open”

But many thought the apology was not enough and blasted the Russian-born player for the many other outbursts during her career.

After losing in a 2019 match at the Australian Open, Putintseva famously stormed off the court and offered her middle finger to the crowds in the stands.

“I’m like a gangster on court, but like an angel off court,” she declared in 2022 after a victory over Kaja Juvan in Rome.

“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,” she has previously said. “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.”

Frieda Powers
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