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The tennis player Yulia Putintseva has apologised to a ball girl at the US Open after her conduct was criticised following defeat in the third round.
Footage showed Putintseva, the 30th seed, blatantly ignoring a ball girl as she attempted to perform her role and toss balls to her while on serve.
Putintseva, 29, allowed the first two balls to bounce off her while appearing to stare directly at the ball girl, before catching the third and turning away.
There were boos from the US Open crowd as Putintseva eventually received the ball while not acknowledging the ball girl.
Video of the incident went viral on social media as former World No 1 Boris Becker led criticism of how Putintseva had treated the ball girl.
“Who does Putintseva think she is…” Becker posted on Twitter/X. “Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl !!!”
Who does Putintseva think she is …
— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) September 1, 2024
Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl !!! https://t.co/Uz8gH7Rx0g
Feliciano Lopez, the former Spanish player and director of the Madrid Open tournament, said Putintseva had humiliated the ball girl.
“Shame on her!!!,” Lopez replied: “Humiliation of a ball kid is the last thing you do on a tennis court..”
The Russian-born Putintseva, who represents Kazakhstan and was seeded 30th at the tournament, was defeated in straight sets by French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini and explained she was “p***ed off” with how she was playing.
“’I want to apologise to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me balls,” Putintseva said on her Instagram story.
“Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really p***ed off at myself for 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 was doing amazing as always at the Open.”
Piers Morgan also criticised Putintseva and accused her of showing “disgusting arrogance” on the court.
Putintseva won just two more games following the incident as Paolini won 6-3 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
Putintseva receives $215,000 in prize money after reaching the third round.
