Yulia Putintseva extends lengthy tennis rap sheet with fiery post-match exchange with Maria Sakkari

Australia Broadcast Center

10 hours ago

Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva has found herself in hot water once again after a confrontation with Greece's Maria Sakkari following the pair's meeting at the Bad Homburg Open.
Sakkari beat Putintseva 7-5, 7-6 (6) and as the pair came together at the net for the customary post-match handshake, sparks flew.
Putintseva did not seem too interested in congratulating her opponent, quickly slapping hands with Sakkari before walking away.
Sakkari did not take too kindly to the gesture and had some words towards Putintseva, who then did a sarcastic curtsy in response.
"Respect me like a human being," said Sakkari, to which Putintseva replied: "I was being like a human being. Look at yourself."
The pair continued to exchange words even after shaking hands with the chair umpire, with Sakkari walking over to Putintseva's bench after hearing her continue to mutter.
"Nobody likes you," Sakkari said before the umpire intervened, adding: "When you shake hands, look at the other person in the eye."
The incident is not the first time Putintseva has been involved in some controversy during and after a match.
Putintseva was up against fellow fire-starter Jelena Ostapenko at the Beijing Open in 2016, a match she won in three sets.
An unforced error from Ostapenko gave Putintseva the win, and she roared aggressively in celebration towards her Latvian opponent, before sending a few balls into the stands for the fans to enjoy.
The celebration drew a side-eye from Ostapenko before the pair shared what was virtually a no-look slap of the hands at the net.
Three years later, at the 2019 Australian Open, Putintseva ousted seeded Czech Barbora Strycova in straight sets, and again erupted after match point.
The exuberant celebration did not sit well with Strycova.
Putintseva again went for the quick handshake while walking off, and was yelled at by Strycova as the pair approached the chair umpire.
Strycova and Putintseva had handshake history leading into this match, with Strycova scolding her opponent in 2014 after not being offered a proper handshake. It appeared Putintseva had decided to over-compensate as a result.
"I like to squeeze hand normal, but she squeezed me, like, hardcore! These bones — oww! Oww!" Strycova said at the time.
"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, Putintseva was roundly booed at the Nürnberg Open when she refused to initially shake hands with German opponent Anna-Lena Friedsam after a three-set win.
After match point, Putintseva walked past Friedsam and shook the chair umpire's hand, only to be chased down by Friedsam.
Eventually, she agreed to shake hands as the chair umpire got involved.
Putintseva has been involved in at least two more frosty handshakes, against Romania's Monica Niculescu at the 2018 Miami Open, where she again clapped her opponent's hand before walking off, and against Magda Linette in 2017.
Putintseva was not done with drama at the 2019 Australian Open after that incident either.
After being bounced by Belinda Bencic in the second round, Putintseva went for the quick handshake with her opponent and then completely ignored the chair umpire.
The crowd in attendance at Melbourne Park did not react too kindly to Putintseva's conduct.
Putintseva initially reacted by wagging her index finger at the fans before sticking her middle finger up shortly after she left the court.
This incident came virtually 12 months prior to another instance where she ignored a chair umpire at the Australian Open.
Putintseva constantly jawed with the chair umpire during her loss to Romania's Ana Bogdan, and then declined the customary post-match handshake with the official.
She appeared to extend her hand towards the chair umpire before quickly drawing it away before the umpire could shake her hand.
Putintseva was tennis's public enemy number one last year after a bizarre exchange with a ball girl during the US Open.
During a loss to Italy's Jasmine Paolini, Putintseva stared blankly at a ball girl and let two balls bounce off her, prompting vitriol from the tennis community.
Six-time grand slam singles title winner Boris Becker was among those heavily critical of Putintseva's actions, slamming what he deemed to be "terrible behaviour" on X.
Australian doubles great Rennae Stubbs was also taken aback by Putintseva's actions, writing at the time: "The disrespect and obnoxious behaviour here is unbelievable and typical from her."
Putintseva did offer an apology for her actions after the incident.
"I want to apologise to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me balls," she wrote on social media.
"Honestly speaking, it was not about her. I was really pissed 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 [sic] doing amazing as always at the Open."