Yulia Putintseva hits back at Maria Sakkari after heated row at Wimbledon warm-up event
Yulia Putinseva has hit back at Maria Sakkari after the pair engaged in a war of words following their clash at the Bad Homberg Open.
Sakkari edged out Putintseva 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) in a tight battle but there was little respect to be seen between the two opponents, throwing insults at each other in a feisty on-court squabble that went viral.
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Putintseva appeared to take issue with Sakkari after match point, telling her to 'go f**k yourself' after giving her a half-hearted handshake at the net.
Greek player Sakkari responded by telling Putintseva that 'nobody likes you' while seemingly pointing to the locker room, before saying 'when you shake hands with someone, you look them in the eyes'.
The former World No 3 followed this up in her court interview, saying: "I don't think she's going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives, but I don't care.
"I have very good friends and I'll go to dinner with them. Let me leave it here, and just say that I have respect for her as a player, but that's it."
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However, Putintseva opted not to keep the unpleasantries on the grass, taking to Instagram to have the final word.
'By the way - not that I care - I shook her hand as most women do,' she wrote on her Instagram story. 'Clearly not according to the 'hugging protocol' some men seem to follow."
She also reposted a video by The Tennis Pulse that demonstrated Sakkari's handshake comments to be hypocritical, showcasing previous examples of the Greek failing to make eye contact when shaking at the net with both Emma Raducanu and Martina Trevisan.
The Kazakh accompanied the video with the caption: 'And the plot thickens', alongside a clown emoji.
Sakkari is into the round of 16 at the Bad Homberg Open and faces World No 8 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the grass-court warm-up ahead of Wimbledon.
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