Yulia Putintseva has publicly apologised to a US Open ball girl and explained that she was ‘really p***ed’ during their strange interaction on court. The world No.32 was dumped out of the tournament by Jasmine Paolini on Saturday and her frustration began to boil over as defeat closed in.
After falling a set and two games behind to Paolini, Putintseva stood motionless while a ball girl offered to throw her new balls. The Kazakh then gestured for the balls to be thrown but refused to catch the first two, which hit her body and rolled onto the floor.
Spectators at Louis Armstrong reacted with loud boos as the ball girl returned to the sidelines with a subtle shake of the head and a look of disbelief.
Paolini went on to win the contest 6-3 6-4, and when the dust had settled, Putintseva shared more about the surreal moment between herself and the ball girl. “I want to apologise 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 known for her larger-than-life personality on court and spoke out on her antics after beating Wang Xinyu in the second round of this year’s US Open. “On the court I have different kinds of personality,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s a clown, sometimes it’s a gangster. Sometimes I’m feeling great and I’m just happy. I’m so emotional and I think the people can see when I’m frustrated with something and when I’m enjoying playing. Off the court I’m different. I’m an angel. Not always, but my mom tells me that!”
Putintseva has never gone beyond the last eight of a Grand Slam and her search for a semi-final appearance will have to run into 2025 after falling short in the last major of the season.
Paolini, meanwhile, is aiming to avenge her defeat in this year’s Wimbledon final by going all the way at Flushing Meadows. The Italian will meet Karolina Muchova in her upcoming last-16 showdown.
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