US Open spectators at Louis Armstrong Stadium were left booing after an awful exchange between Yulia Putintseva and a ball girl during her third-round match against Jasmine Paolini. The 30th seed’s frustration was evident as she found herself losing her grip on the match.
Putintseva, having lost the first set and trailing 4-2 in the second, reacted oddly when the ball girl offered new balls. She stared blankly at the young helper with her arms hanging by her side.
A lukewarm gesture from Putintseva prompted the ball girl to throw the ball, but instead of catching it, Putintseva let it hit her torso and bounce away. A similar scenario played out with the second ball, which bounced off Putintseva’s foot after she declined to catch it.
The crowd began to react to Putintseva’s unusual behaviour, leading to a chorus of boos. A third ball was thrown, which the Kazakh player reluctantly caught before picking up one of the earlier balls from the ground.
There was no acknowledgement from Putintseva towards the ball girl as she returned to the baseline for her next point. Footage showed the ball girl returning to her post with a wry smile and a shake of the head in disbelief, reports the Express.
Piers Morgan slammed Putintseva, saying: “Disgusting arrogance- the ball girl should have thrown the third one in her taunting face.”
Former tennis champion Boris Becker fumed at the situation, describing the player’s behaviour as “terrible”.
Despite winning two more games, Putintseva couldn’t turn the tide, with fifth seed Paolini securing her place in the fourth round with a solid 6-3 6-4 win.
Paolini is gearing up to face Karolina Muchova, who has been in formidable form at Flushing Meadows this year, not dropping a single set and claiming victories over Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Popatova. The match-up follows controversial comments from US Open commentator Chris Evert, who remarked that Muchova ‘plays like a guy’, sparking backlash from players including Ons Jabeur and Nick Kyrgios.
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