A Russian-born tennis player who switched allegiances to earn Kazakh funding has found herself in the centre of another controversy after finding herself on the receiving end of an x-rated rant on Sunday.
Yulia Putintseva caught the ire of opponent Maria Sakkari following their third round match at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany – a warm-up tournament that helps prepare stars for Wimbledon.
Having shaken hands at the net after winning 7-5, 7-6, Sakkari vented her fury at Putintseca after the Kazakh refused to look her in the eye during their exchange. Sakkari was heard telling her opponent ‘nobody likes you’.
To some, they may never heard of Putintseva until recent days, but the 30-year-old, who is world No 34, has a lengthy rap sheet from her career – the worst of which came in New York last year when her savage behaviour towards a ball kid earned her worldwide condemnation.
Born in Moscow, she moved to Paris in her teens to follow her tennis journey and now resides in Florida.
Although she was born in Russia, she switched to represent Kazakhstan in 2012 after reportedly receiving financial and technical support from the Kazakh Tennis Federation.
The Russian-born Kazakhstani star has a lengthy rap sheet of controversies from her career
The 30-year-old, who is world No 34, is a controversial figure and has had many clashes
Despite her clear talent, which will see her in action at Wimbledon this year after qualifying for the tournament for the third time, Putintseva has never been far away from controversy.
This was clear for all to see on Sunday when she clashed with Sakkari following their heated game.
Although clearly simmering beneath their calm exteriors, both Sakkari and Putintseva initially observed the usual show of respect by clasping hands over the net.
But, spectators were then shocked after a row began, seemingly over the brief and loose handshake.
Wildcard Sakkari appeared to be especially unhappy and was heard telling her opponent to act ‘like a human being’, to which Putintseva insisted she had.
But the hot-headed Kazakhstani then upped the stakes as she appeared to tell Sakkari to ‘go f***’ herself and to leave her alone, gesturing for her to move away.
Much of the spat wasn’t audible because of the music being pumped out around the court, but a riposte from Putintseva led Sakkari to follow her to her bench.
Sakkari appeared to have taken exception to Putintseva’s handshake over the top of the net
Sakkari followed Putintseva to her bench and was overheard telling her: ‘Nobody likes you’
Sakkari eventually walked away but returned again just seconds later, appearing to say, ‘F****** hell, I’m what?’ She then clearly told Putintseva: ‘Nobody likes you!’
The Greek instructed Putintseva to look into her opponent’s eyes when shaking their hand after a match before the umpire stepped in, saying: ‘Ladies, please.’
Putintseva delivered a sarcastic sweeping bow in Sakkari’s direction, saying ‘thank you very much’, and the argument continued even as she made her way off the court.
On Monday, Putintseva then hit back at Sakkari and appeared to allege that she was a hypocrite.
In a post on her Instagram story, the 30-year-old shared a mirror selfie alongside a message of defiance.
‘By the way – not that I care – I shook her hand as most women do,’ Putintseva said.
‘Clearly not according to the ‘hugging protocol’ some men seem to follow.’
That message also came after she had fired a dig at Sakkari as she shared a video from Instagram account ‘The Tennis Pulse’.
Yulia Putintseva then broke her silence after her x-rated handshake row with Sakkari
Putintseva defended her position on Instagram with a defiant message and hit back at Sakkari
Putintseva also shared a post which aimed a dig at Sakkari and called her opponent a clown
The post was a clip of Sakkari clashing with Putintseva at the net where the Greek star could be heard saying: ‘When you shake hands look at the other person in the eye.’
The video then switched to a screengrab of Sakkari shaking hands at the net with Emma Raducanu and Martina Trevisan after separate defeats.
However, in both instances, Sakkari’s head was turned away from her opponent and she wasn’t ‘looking at the other person in the eye’.
Alongside the video, Putintseva added: ‘And the plot thickens…’, accompanied by a clown emoji.
Meanwhile, last year, Putintseva, 30, was involved in another ugly moment during her defeat by Jasmine Paolini at the US Open, leading to her being widely criticised by pundits.
Footage showed two balls being thrown towards Putintseva ahead of her next serve, but she ignored them and stared back at the ball girl without moving.
That left the youngster in an awkward position, before Putintseva caught the third ball and resumed the match when she was down 4-2 in the second set.
Putintseva was loudly booed and twice apologised for her ‘terrible behaviour’, insisting she was ‘p***ed’ at herself rather than the ball girl.
Putintseva was involved in a spat during the US Open last year after ignoring a ball girl’s attempts to throw the balls towards her, letting them hit her and bounce away
Putintseva did not acknowledge the ball girl as she eventually caught the third ball
‘It’s kind of scary the way the world can judge someone from just a three second video, that someone posts from one side, without seeing the rest on what was really happening,’ she wrote on social media.
‘I was just playing tennis and lost a tough game, which was very close (in my opinion) to turn that match around.
‘After the game (as you can see on a pic) I got very much disappointed and was almost crying, that I didn’t do better.
‘At this time the girl was giving me the ball, which I didn’t even notice or so, because I was deep in my thoughts… I was not trying to humiliate her (or anyone) by not taking this ball that she was giving to me.
‘I didn’t do anything disrespectful to anyone at this particular moment. I do apologise, if this girl thinks that it was something towards her. (And btw her name is Kate, very nice girl, which understood that it was nothing towards her).
‘I can’t say that I am perfect all my career. I am getting angry on court, p***ed, saying stupid stuff and curse like no tomorrow sometimes. Guilty for that. But I did never put myself “on top” of someone. That’s just not me at all.’
The charge sheet doesn’t stop there however, with Sakkari and the innocent ball girl among several figures in the tennis world that Putintseva has clashed with over the years.
All the way back in 2017, she let loose at her own coach Roman Kisliansky after being thrashed 6-0 6-0 by Alize Cornet at the Connecticut Open.
The 30-year-old star has clashed with several figures in tennis, including Iga Swiatek
Putintseva has apologised for her behaviour on multiple occasions and reflected on her temper
During the match, Putintseva was heard saying: ‘You never applauded me when I won the ball. You chew and watch the f***ing video. Are you moron? (sic)
‘You sit there watching your video about the flat Earth. Take your f***ing grin away.’
When she was 4-0 down in the second set, she also unleashed another epic meltdown as she demolished her racquet.
However, she did later apologise for her actions.
‘Yesterday was hell!,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately there are days in tennis when you can do nothing.
‘I would like to apologise to my coach Roman Kisliansky for what I said! My emotions quite often blind me, but I am working on that and will try to make some conclusions from this game and this situation.’
Those apologies have become a common theme, but Putintseva has previously hinted how her abrasive and chaotic behaviour on the court is just how she is.
‘I knew since I was a kid,’ she told the WTA in 2022. ‘My father would tell me, “Yulia, your temper on the court is too much sometimes”.
But she has hinted her abrasive and chaotic behaviour on the court is just how she is
‘I was wild, too much fire.’
She added: ‘I’m like a gangster on court, but like an angel off court. (I’m) really different in real life.’
However, in that same interview, she also claimed she was calming down and revealed what she wants to achieve in the game.
‘Now I’m controlling myself more. In important moments I’m calming down. I understand what I have to do.
‘I hope I can win a Grand Slam one day. That’s my goal. That’s what I believe I can do. I’m working for it every day. If I cannot, at least I want to give my best.’
Meanwhile, she has also attracted the ire of fans watching her games on multiple occasions, meaning those in attendance at Wimbledon should be eagle-eyed when she plays.
After losing to Elena Rybakina in the Madrid Open quarter-finals last year, Putintseva launched into a furious racket-smashing tirade, before she was booed off court.
Elsewhere, back in 2019, after a loss to Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, the Kazakhstani star refused to shake the hand of the umpire.
She is known for smashing rackets, including on one occasion at the Madrid Open in 2024
Putintseva also stuck her middle finger up towards fans at the Australian Open as she departed
The crowd weren’t too happy and didn’t react well, which then led to Putintseva astonishingly sticking her middle finger up towards them as she left the court.
It seems Putintseva has an ongoing issue with umpires, including a year later when she declined to shake hands with one after multiple disagreements during a defeat to Romania’s Ana Bogdan.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has also had problems with Putintseva, and previously hit out at her behaviour after a game at Indian Wells in 2024.
The 30-year-old had been told off by the umpire for moving from side to side when Swiatek was preparing to serve, before she sent down a couple of underarm serves.
‘Maybe they teach that in Kazakhstan,’ Swiatek had said. ‘I can only be responsible for what’s going on with me.
‘I want to keep my standards high no matter what’s going on, and I think this match was a test for my mental training that I did.’
Another superstar Victoria Azarenka has also criticised Putintseva after a chaotic encounter at the 2022 Qatar Open.
During the match, the Kazakhstani had been accused of faking injuries just as the Belarusian was going to serve, while she also smashed multiple rackets and shared a cold post-match handshake.
Victoria Azarenka once claimed that Putintseva ‘needs a mental coach and a psychiatrist’
‘Before my serve, she can do that (call a medical time-out),’ Azarenka said. ‘What’s the problem? She has to wait for me to serve, she threw her racket like seven times.
‘She needs a mental coach, she needs a psychiatrist. There was way too much stuff in this match. Unnecessary stuff as well.’
Finally, the handshake drama with Sakkari is seemingly another recurring theme for Putintseva, particularly in regards to Czech star Barbora Stycova.
Back in 2014, Strycova claimed she was not offered a proper handshake after a match and this history appeared to be lingering five years later in 2019.
After beating her opponent in straight sets, Putintseva irked Strycova with an exuberant celebration before she overcompensated for that allegedly previous weak handshake.
‘I like to squeeze hand normal, but she squeezed me, like, hardcore!,’ Strycova said. ‘These bones – oww! Oww!
‘I was like, “Why’d you do that?” She said, “You squeezed my hand.” I said, “I squeezed your hand normal! Just let it be.”
‘I didn’t really care. It’s nothing big. Just, why?’
Later that year, she also received a hostile reception from fans when she initially refused to shake hands with Anna-Lena Friedsam after a three-set win at the Nuremberg Open, only doing so when she was chased down by her German opponent.
Given her troubled history, this is unlikely to be the last we hear of Putintseva and those who watch her at Wimbledon won’t be too surprised to see her at the centre of any drama.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .