Picture Credit: X
Kazakhstan tennis pro Yulia Putintseva found herself in hot waters during her third-round loss to Jasmine Paolini in the US Open 2024. During her clash against Paolini, Putintseva took her frustration out on a ball girl and ended up behaving badly with her. The 32nd seeded at the ongoing tournament suffered a 3-4, 4-6 loss to her Italian counterpart, who also happens to be the 2024 French Open and Wimbledon finalist.
During one point of the match, as Putintseva was about to serve, a ball girl approached the 29-year-old and tossed the balls her way, as is done. However, Putintseva didn’t move and caught the balls, instead letting them bounce away. The crowd present at the stadium started booing the world number 32 loudly.
It was not about her; I want to apologise: Yulia Putintseva apologises to ball girl
Putintseva, who eventually ended up on the losing side of the game, apologised to the ball girl for her behaviour. She said that it was not her but she was pissed at herself. She took to Instagram story to say, “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."
Yulia continued, “I was really pissed 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 whats going on and who gives me the ball.. All the ball kids was doing amazing as always as the open.”
