Pro tennis player Yulia Putintseva apologises after "humiliating" ball girl

Tennis player Yulia Putintseva has issued an apology after a shocking video showed her disrespecting a ball girl at the 2024 US Open in New York. 

The video has gone viral worldwide, with many calling her actions "humiliating", "rude", and "unacceptable". In the clip,  Yulia can be seen standing on the court, swinging her bat while waiting for the girl to pass the ball to her. 

The young volunteer throws the ball at Yulia, but she purposefully ignores it, watching it bounce off her body as she fails to make any attempt to catch it. 

Yulia, who is clearly upset, does this twice before catching the ball and resuming the match. The crowd booed her during the incident. 

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Yulia, whose current WTA ranking is 32, has blamed her behaviour on feeling frustrated—not with the ball girl but with how the match was going. At the time, she was playing Italian tennis star Jasmine Paolini. The 28-year-old beat Yulia 6-3 6-4.

"I want to apologise to the ball girl for the way I was when she was giving balls. Honestly speaking, it was not about her," Yulia wrote in an apology shared on her Instagram Story. 

She ended her apology by praising "all the ball kids". 

"I was really pissed at myself [for] not winning the game from the breakpoint and 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 [were] doing amazing as always at the open."

Former world #1 Boris Becker expressed shock over the incident. "Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behaviour towards the ball girl!!!" the retired German tennis player wrote on X (Twitter).

Many people took to social media to slam Yulia's "unprofessional" actions, calling for her to be banned from future US Open matches. 

"Sportsmanship at its worst! ... Winning is important, but the key to true success lies in learning how to handle losses. No one wins consistently, and the ability to recover from defeat is what ultimately leads to becoming a champion," one X user wrote. 

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Some internet users also dismissed the "sorry excuse" she gave for her behaviour. 

"The reason for Yulia Putintseva’s behaviour was because she was frustrated with her performance. She has since apologised. Personally, I don’t care how frustrated she was; it wasn’t a good look taking it out on the ball girl." 

A third X user was glad that Yulia lost the match, which shattered her hopes of winning a Grand Slam title. 

"Yulia Putintseva absolutely earned that loss. People who treat volunteers, service workers, etc like they are beneath them are the worst people," the woman wrote. 

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Main image credit: Instagram/Yulia Putintseva (@yulia_putintseva), X/Meredith Thompson (@MerThomp)