Tennis rivals' fiery post-match exchange caught on camera as defeated star turns air blue
Tennis rivals' fiery post-match exchange caught on camera as defeated star turns air blue
Two WTA stars were involved in a furious spat following their match at the Bad Homburg Open on Sunday, with the loser of the match telling her rival "go f*** yourself"
Yulia Putintseva had some choice words for Maria Sakkari after their match in Hamburg
(Image: Sky Sports )
A heated exchange erupted between Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva at the Bad Homburg, culminating in a fiery post-match confrontation.
Wild card Sakkari emerged as a 7-5, 7-6(6) victor over fellow tennis star Putintseva during their third-round clash at the tournament in Germany on Sunday. And things boiled over as they approached the net for the customary post-match handshake.
A somewhat rigid handshake preceded some pent-up tension being unleashed as Sakkari visibly looked vexed when she confronted Putintseva, telling her to "act like a human being." Unrepentant, Putintseva responded by instructing Sakkari to "go f*** herself" and demanded she be left alone, followed by a dismissive shooing motion.
Although not every utterance was captured by the court-side microphones, Sakkari could be seen following Putintseva to her bench. The Mirror reported she then briefly moved away, only to turn back and respond: "F*****g hell, I'm what? Nobody likes you!"
Sakkari, 29, continued her rival by scolding Putintseva for failing to maintain eye contact during their handshake. The umpire then interjected with a plea for calm: "Ladies, please."
Coolly collected in her contempt, Putintseva responded with a mocking bow towards Sakkari. And she appeared to do her best to wind up the Greek star as she quipped: "Thank you very much."
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Sakkari was then interviewed on court amid laughter from the crowd regarding her argument with Putintseva. The reporter sought to ease the tensions as he asked: "Everyone saw a little bit of a discussion at the end, did she (Putintseva) invite you for dinner? What happened?"
Sakkari smiled as she replied: "I don't think she's gonna invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives. But I don't care to be honest. I have very good friends and I'll go to dinner with them. So, let me leave it here and say that I have a respect [for] her as a player, but that's it."
Sakkari was furious with rival Putintseva for avoiding eye contact during their handshake
(Image: Sky Sports )
Putintseva exhibited controversial behaviour at last year's US Open when she was embroiled in backlash for ignoring balls thrown to her by a ballgirl. These actions led to her receiving boos from spectators, and many criticised the Kazakh star for her lack of etiquette at the time.
The 30-year-old later apologised twice on social media and said: "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.
"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.
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"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****d, 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."
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