'Ugly' moment US Open tennis star is booed by the crowd after 'humiliating' a ball girl

2 September 2024, 09:00

Tennis star Yulia Putintseva has apologised for her ‘terrible behaviour’ after she humiliated a ball girl in ugly scenes at the US Open.

The Kazakhstan player had lost the first set and was down 4-2 in the second against Jasmine Paolini in the third round of the tournament when her frustrations apparently boiled over.

She asked the ball girl to give her balls for her serve but when they were thrown towards her, she stared at the ball girl blankly, making no effort to catch the balls and instead watching as they rolled away on the ground.

Her actions earned boos from the Flushing Meadows crowd.

Putintseva took to social media to apologise after her straight set defeat, writing: “I want to apologise 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***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.”

Boris Becker wrote online: “'Who does Putintseva think she is... terrible behaviour towards the ball girl.’

Fifth seed Paolini ended up beating her comfortably, heading to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.