US OPEN
Putintseva apologises for humiliating ballgirl at US Open
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva issued an apology after showing a dismissive attitude towards a young ballgirl during her third-round defeat to Jasmine Paolini.
A bad day at the office got even worse for Yulia Putintseva, who found herself dumped out of the US Open and facing criticism for her rude treatment of a ballgirl at the tournament.
The Kazakhstan player, ranked 32nd in the WTA standings, lost her third-round game to Jasmine Paolini 3-6, 4-6 and her frustration was evident as the contest ebbed away from he at Flushing Meadows. After losing the first set and going down 2-4 in the second, with Putintseva to serve, a young ballgirl bounced three balls for the player.
Putintseva blanks ball girl
But instead of picking the balls up, Putintseva stared at the ballgirl and let the balls roll away making no attempt to acknowledge the member of the ball crew. The player’s total lack of respect prompted boos from the crowd.
Putintseva published an apology and explanation on her Instagram page: “I want to apologizse to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me the balls. Honestly speaking, It was not about her. I was really pissed 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 was doing amazing as always at the Open”.
1989 US Open men’s singles winner Boris Becker slammed Putintseva for publicly humiliating the ball girl. “Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl!!!” Becker wrote in response to a video on X.
Meanwhile, three-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs added on her social media feed: “The disrespect and obnoxious behavior here is unbelievable and typical from her”.
Paolini will face Czech Republic’s Karolína Muchová in the fourth round.