US Open star Yulia Putintseva issues second apology amid backlash over behaviour – but denies she was trying to ‘humiliate’ a ball girl
Tennis star Yulia Putintseva has apologized for the second time for her behavior at the US Open, but denies “humiliating” a ball girl.
The 29-year-old was involved in a nasty moment during her third-round defeat to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, which saw the crowd at Flushing Meadows boo her and she was criticised by Boris Becker and Piers Morgan, among others.
Footage shows two balls being thrown to Putintseva before her next serve. The player ignores these balls and looks at the girl without changing position.
That put the young lady in a difficult position until Putintseva caught the third ball and resumed the match when she was trailing 4-2 in the second set.
Putintseva apologized earlier this week on social media for her “terrible behavior,” claiming she was angry with herself and not the ball girl.
Yulia Putintseva ignored the ball girl’s attempts to throw the balls towards her, causing the first ball to hit her torso (left), while the second bounced off her feet and rolled away (right).
Putintseva didn’t look at the ball girl as she caught the third ball, while the young girl held out her arms almost in disbelief at what had just happened
The tennis star apologized for the second time for the incident, posting a photo in which she emphasized her disappointment at losing a match – rather than attempting to ‘humiliate’ the ball girl
The Kazakhstan star has admitted she is ‘a gangster on the pitch but an angel off it’
The Kazakhstan player, ranked No. 32 in the world, has now shared photos of the incident.
Putinseva claimed the photos showed her disappointment that she did not stand up to Paolini, rather than the ball girl.
The star also admitted to past misconduct on the court and said she planned to arrange something special for the ball girl after the incident.
“It’s pretty scary how the world can judge someone based on just a 3 second video that someone posts from one side without seeing the rest of what actually happened,” she wrote.
‘I was just playing tennis and lost a difficult match, which (in my opinion) was very close to turning that match around. After the match (as you can see in a picture) I was very disappointed and almost cried, that I had not done better. At that moment the girl gave me the ball, which I did not even notice or anything, because I was deep in my thoughts…
‘I wasn’t trying to humiliate her (or anyone else) by not taking the ball she gave me.
“I didn’t do anything disrespectful to anyone at this point. I apologize if this girl thinks it was something against her. (And by the way, her name is Kate, very nice girl, who understood it was nothing against her)
“I can’t say I’ve been perfect my whole career. I get angry on court, pissed off, say stupid things and sometimes swear like there’s no tomorrow. Guilty of that. But I’ve never put myself ‘on top’ of anyone. That’s just not who I am at all.
‘I hope you can see it from a different angle now. I mean, I know hate is gonna hate and this post is getting way too long, so I’m going to stop here.
Putintseva insisted she had done nothing disrespectful and claimed she was deep in thought at the time
The 29-year-old has been criticised by several prominent tennis figures for her behaviour
Putintseva apologized on social media for her actions, saying she was “angry” with herself during the match when it happened during a three-set defeat.
“And lastly, since Kate is already involved in this mess, I’m trying to make something special for her.”
Footage of the incident, posted on social media, showed the ball girl attempting to pass Putintseva a ball, but the Kazakh player hit the ball on her torso and it bounced away.
Her second attempt to throw the ball to the player was again ignored as the ball bounced off Putintseva’s feet. The player turned her head to watch the ball roll away from her.
Then there were loud boos towards Putintseva, who caught the third ball without looking at the ball girl.
Putintseva then tried to grab one of the balls, which she had previously ignored, while the ball girl had her arms outstretched.
There was no acknowledgement of the ball girl as Putintseva returned to the baseline. Footage showed the ball girl returning to her post with an ironic smile and shaking her head at what had just happened.
Putinseva said she is trying to arrange “something special” for the ball girl involved
Former US Open champion Becker led the criticism when he wrote on X: ‘Who does Putintseva think she is… terrible behavior towards the ball girl.’
His tweet was in response to a tweet calling it an “ugly moment” during the match.
Piers Morgan also criticised Putin’s “disgusting arrogance” on social media.
Putintseva won only two more games after the incident, allowing fifth-seeded Paolini to advance to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.