Yulia Putintseva has apologised to a US Open ball girl after an awkward exchange during her third-round exit at the US Open was captured on video.
The video shows a ball girl tossing two balls to Putintseva, who stares back at her without moving as the balls bounce away and along the ground.
The 29-year-old Kazakh player, hoping to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career, lost 6-3 6-4 to fifth seed Jasmine Paolini and blamed two missed break points in the sixth game of the second as the cause of her misplaced frustration.
In a post on her social media, Putintseva wrote: “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****d at myself 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 what’s going on and who gives me the ball…
“All the ball kids were doing amazing as always at the open.”
Putintseva’s actions had drawn criticism online, with former six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker among those to pass comment.
In a post on X, Becker wrote: “Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl !!!”
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in September?
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Find out all the ways to watch tennis on Sky Sports, including the US Open, ATP and WTA tours
- Jasmin Open, Tunisia – WTA 250 (9-15 September)
- Guadalajara Open, Mexico – WTA 500 (9-15 September)
- Korea Open – WTA 500 (16 -22 September – with Emma Raducanu in action)
- Thailand Open – WTA 250 (16 -22 September)
- Chengdu Open, China – ATP 250 (18-24 September)
- Hangzhou Open, China – ATP 250 (18-24 September)
- China Open – WTA 1000 (Sept 25 – Oct 6)
- Japan Open – ATP 500 (Sept 25 – Oct 1)
- China Open – ATP 500 (Sept 26 – Oct 2)
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