- Yulia Putintseva ignored the ball girl’s attempts to throw the ball to her.
- The crowd booed her loudly for her actions during her third round loss.
- The 29-year-old from Kazakhstan took to social media to apologize.
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva has apologized for her “terrible behavior” toward a ball girl at the US Open.
The 29-year-old was involved in an unpleasant moment during her third-round loss to Italian Jasmine Paolini, which led to her being heavily booed by the crowd at Flushing Meadows and criticised by the likes of Boris Becker and Piers Morgan.
The footage showed two balls being thrown towards Putintseva before her next serve, only for the player to ignore them and stare at the girl without moving from her position.
This left the youngster in an awkward position, before Putintseva grabbed the third ball before resuming the match when she was down 4-2 in the second set.
In a message on social media, he wrote: ‘I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was when she was giving me the balls.
Yulia Putintseva ignored the ball girl’s attempts to throw balls at her, letting the first one hit her torso (left) while the second one bounced off her feet and rolled away (right).
Putintseva did not recognise the ball girl when she caught the third ball, as the young woman spread her arms out almost in disbelief at what had just happened.
Putintseva, 29, was later criticised for her “terrible behaviour” towards the ball girl.
Putintseva has since taken to social media to apologize for her actions, saying she was “angry” with herself at the time of the match when it occurred during a straight-sets loss.
‘To be honest, it wasn’t because of her. I was very angry with myself for not winning the game from the break point and afterwards I felt devoid of emotions and lost in my thoughts, not even concentrating on what was happening and who was giving me the ball…
‘All the ball kids did amazing as always at the Open.’
The first ball the youngster tried to pass to Putintseva was ignored by the Kazakh player, who let it hit her torso and bounce off.
Her second attempt to throw the ball towards the player was again ignored as it bounced off Putintseva’s feet and the player turned her head to watch it go away from her.
It was then that Putintseva was booed from all sides as she caught the third ball without greeting the ball girl.
Putintseva then attempted to grab one of the balls she had previously ignored, as the ball girl had her arms outstretched.
There was no acknowledgement of the ball girl as Putintseva returned to the baseline, and footage showed the ball girl returning to her post with a wry smile and shaking her head at what had just happened.
Former US Open champion Boris Becker criticised Putintseva’s behaviour on social media
Former US Open champion Becker led the criticism, writing on X: “Who does Putintseva think she is?… terrible behaviour towards ball girl.”
His tweet was in response to one who described it as an “ugly moment” during the match.
Piers Morgan also took to social media, criticising Putintseva’s “disgusting arrogance”.
Boris Becker and Piers Morgan were among the prominent names to attack Putintseva.
Jasmine Paolini defeated the Kazakh player in straight sets to reach the fourth round
He wrote: ‘What disgusting arrogance from @PutintsevaYulia. The ball girl should have thrown the third one in her mocking face.’
Three-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs posted: ‘The disrespect and disgusting behaviour here is unbelievable and typical of her.’
Putintseva won just two more games as fifth-seeded Paolini advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.