Latest news with #BadHomberg

The Independent

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. 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." 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 Emma Raducanu and Martina Trevisan. The Kazakh accompanied the video with the caption: 'And the plot thickens', alongside a clown emoji. Ekaterina Alexandrova in the grass-court warm-up ahead of Wimbledon.