Yulia Putintseva has been forced to apologise after her treatment of a ball girl at the US Open was criticised.
Putintseva was filmed during her match with Jasmine Paolini refusing balls from the ball girl.
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She allowed two to hit her and roll away, before grabbing a third.
The Russian-born Kazakh tennis player quickly went viral on the internet after being criticized for her treatment of the young ball girl.
She was also booed by the crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Boris Becker wrote on X: “Who does Putintseva think she is… Terrible behavior with the ball girl!!!”
One person added: “I love this ball girl who doesn’t put up with any of Putintseva’s rude nonsense. Ball girls get disrespected far too often.”
A third wrote: “Putintseva’s disrespectful attitude towards a ball boy. Should be fined.”
Putintseva lost her third-round match to Paolini 6-3, 6-4, and was eliminated from the US Open.
After facing backlash, she apologized on Instagram.
She wrote: “I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I acted when she gave me the balls.
“Honestly speaking, it wasn’t about her. I was really pissed off at myself for not winning the match from the break point and then I was so empty of emotions and deep in my thoughts that I wasn’t even focusing on what was happening and who was giving me the ball.
“All the ball boys were doing very well, as always, in the Open.”
She even commented on her bizarre antics on the court after her second-round victory over Wang Xinyu.
“On the court, I have different personality types,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s a clown, sometimes it’s a gangster. Sometimes I’m feeling great and I’m happy.
“I’m so emotional and I think people can see when I’m frustrated about something and when I’m enjoying playing. Off the court, I’m different. I’m an angel. Not always, but my mom tells me that!”