Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva has issued a public apology after coming under fire over her actions towards a ball girl at the US Open.
The world No.32 was knocked out of the tournament in the third round by Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who claimed a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Frustrated with her performance, Putintseva was broken four times and produced a costly 33 unforced errors.
During one stage at the match, she gestured to a ball girl to pass her a ball three times in a row. However, the first two times she stood there motionless and refused to catch the balls. Instead, she let them hit her body and then rolled onto the ground. As a result, there was an eruption of booing from the crowds at the tennis star due to her behavior.
Meanwhile, a video clip of the incident on social media has triggered criticism online. Former world No.1 and multiple Grand Slam champion Boris Becker described it as ‘terrible behavior.’
Amid the fallout, Putintseva issued a statement on Instagram about the controversy, explaining that she was upset with herself and meant no hard feelings towards anybody else.
“I want to apologize to her for the way I was when she was giving me the balls,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
“Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really p***ed at myself by not winning the game from the breakpoint and then got (so) empty with my emotions and deep in my thoughts that I was not focusing on what’s going on and who gives me the ball. All the ball kids were doing amazing as always at the US Open.”
Putintseva is the 30th seed in this year’s draw and was aiming to reach the last 16 in New York for the first time since 2020. Earlier in the tournament, she scored wins over Linda Noskova and Wang Xinyu.
Meanwhile, Paolini will play Karolína Muchová in the next round on Monday.
