Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva is causing a stir at the US Open. In an irritating scene, the 29-year-old appears to humiliate a ball girl.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva has incurred the displeasure of tennis fans with an action towards a ball girl.
- The 29-year-old ignored a ball girl during her third-round match at the US Open while she was trying to throw the balls to her.
- Putintseva has since apologized for her behaviour on Instagram.
In her third-round match at the US Open against Italian Jasmine Paolini, Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva is not doing well at all. She loses in two sets 3:6 and 4:6. The impending defeat is already weighing on the 29-year-old's mind during the match - a video on "X" shows her apparently taking her anger out on a ball girl and humiliating her as she hands over the ball.
When the girl tries to throw the balls to the tennis player before she serves, Putintseva simply stares at her. After the Kazakh finally gives a hand signal and the girl throws her the first ball, Putintseva simply lets it bounce off her stomach.
The 29-year-old also ignores the second ball thrown to her, looks after it briefly and then stares at the ball girl again. Only when the crowd begins to boo the player for her behavior does she listlessly catch the third ball.
Putintseva apologizes on Instagram
Tennis fans online are harsh on the Kazakh after the scene. In comments under the widely shared video, many are happy that the Kazakh was thrown out of the tournament by the Italian after the irritating action.
Others call Putintseva "disrespectful", "without class" or a "bad role model". The ball girl, on the other hand, does not seem to be fazed by the action. In a second video, she can be seen simply standing back in her place and shaking her head with a smile, while Putintseva shaggers towards the baseline with a grim expression.
The Kazakh has since apologized for her faux pas on Instagram. "I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I behaved when she gave me balls. Honestly, it wasn't about her," Putintseva wrote. "I was really mad at myself." She was just thinking and not focusing on who was giving her the ball.
