“Didn’t know what I did wrong,” Yulia Putintseva opens up about controversial interaction with ball girl at US Open | Exclusive
Yulia Putintseva was heavily criticized for her controversial behavior toward a ball kid at the 2024 US Open.
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Yulia Putintseva stands still while ball girl throws balls for her (Images via US Open/ X)
Yulia Putintseva was at the receiving end of criticism after an incident involving a ball girl during her third-round match with Jasmine Paolini at the US Open. The 29-year-old has now talked in detail about the incident in the Fantastic Tennis Podcast by FirstSportz.
At one point in the second set, Putintseva stood frozen, ignoring the balls the ball kid had been tossing toward her. She allowed two balls to bounce off her before finally catching the third ball. The girl, upon seeing the balls bounce off the player, stood with her hands raised in the air as loud boos erupted from the crowd of the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
When the video surfaced on the internet, as expected, Putintseva was censured by fans as they felt she humiliated the ball kid. Tennis great Boris Becker was among those who condemned her, calling her behavior a ‘terrible’ one. Serena Williams‘ former coach Rennae Stubbs on the other hand said the ‘obnoxious behavior’ was ‘typical from her’. Feliciano Lopez, a former player from Spain wrote, “Shame on her!!!”
Putintseva later apologized and revealed how at that time, she was deep in her thoughts and on the verge of crying because of her mediocre performance and didn’t notice the balls. In the podcast, she reiterated that she was not trying to humiliate the ball kid at all.
Honestly, yes, I was surprised because I didn’t know what I did wrong. I usually know when you did something wrong, you know immediately that, okay, I throw a racket here, might jump up there, take someone, but nothing happened. And when the media start to send me all those messages, but I was like, but which girl? Like what are you talking about? Like really? And then I saw the video and I was like, but that’s not what happened.
Yulia Putintseva said on FirstSportz’s Fantastic Tennis Podcast with Jon Guerrica
Putintseva also revealed after that controversial incident, she contacted the ball girl who understood the situation. She believes her action toward the ball kid was nothing compared to many controversial incidents that keep happening in tennis.
Here, I just didn’t pick up the ball. I was not making fun of anyone. And I did pick up the ball after like two seconds. Like after when I came back to myself, I just went to take it in, say like, girl, hey, go take it, you know, for me. What are you doing or something like that? No, no, no. I was just, I went, I took it, and the next ball I took it as well. So it was like no problem.
Yulia Putintseva added
Yulia Putintseva calls out media for creating controversy
Yulia Putintseva admitted how she was guilty of screaming at referees and even toward her coach, but she couldn’t understand how her behavior toward the ball kid was disrespectful. Putintseva criticized the media for making things up out of nothing.
You can make this in every single match if you try, you know, but this one was, I mean, they make it so huge. And really, I didn’t I didn’t do anything. Yeah. I mean, I did something in the past, like by saying something not nice to the referees. Guilty for that. Saying something not nice for my coach.
Yulia Putintseva said
Putintseva is infamous for her on-court antics, which often make headlines more than her performance. She has smashed racket and exchanged salty handshakes with her opponents but claimed she never tried to humiliate anyone.
Obviously, it wasn’t nice to my rackets and the courts, sometimes to the rear, like in general thing. But I mean, I never was arrogant or acting on top of someone, and like who you are, you know. I was angry at the moment, yes.
Yulia Putintseva added
Listen to the full podcast below:
Putintseva will now want to forget all the controversy to focus on the next season. Following the 2024 season that saw her clinch the Birmingham Classic, Putintseva, who is yet to progress beyond the quarterfinals, will be hoping to make deep runs in the four Majors. In 2024, apart from the US Open, she suffered defeat before advancing to the quarterfinals in the other three Majors.
Putintseva ended her 2024 season after her quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Daria Kasatkina at the Ningbo Open. She will kick start her campaign for the 2025 season at the Brisbane International, where she is scheduled to lock horns with McCartney Kessler on December 31.
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