Putintseva apologises to ball girl after awkward exchange in US Open exit

3 months ago 9

Yulia Putintseva has apologised to a US Open ball girl after an awkward exchange during her third-round exit at the US Open was captured on video.

The video shows a ball girl tossing two balls to Putintseva, who stares back at her without moving as the balls bounce away and along the ground.

The 29-year-old Kazakh player, hoping to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career, lost 6-3 6-4 to fifth seed Jasmine Paolini and blamed two missed break points in the sixth game of the second as the cause of her misplaced frustration.

In a post on her social media, Putintseva wrote: "I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me balls.

"Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really p****d 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 were doing amazing as always at the open."

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Putintseva's actions had drawn criticism online, with former six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker among those to pass comment.

In a post on X, Becker wrote: "Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl !!!"

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