The U.S. Open signifies a major event in the realm of sports, to say the least. Held annually in New York City, the event draws not only bigwigs of the tennis world but also major celebrities. (Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet attended in 2023 and spent most of the time making out.) Amid the competition itself, there can be occasional errors and professional faux pas. Such a situation happened this year, when Yulia Putintseva acted rudely towards a ball girl. The exact moment involving Putintseva – who later apologized for her actions – is now online.
During her match against Italian player Jasmine Paolini, Russia native Yulia Putintseva signaled to a ball girl, as she was in need of new balls. The young lady ultimately threw two balls towards Putintseva, who ultimately just let them bounce off her body. After that, the girl appeared unsure how to react and merely stood with her hands in the air before returning to her post. Amid all of that, Putintseva did catch a third ball that was sent her way but, by that point, the crowd had already started booing her. You can see that moment by way of the Instagram post below:
One could say that the entire ordeal definitely did turn out to be one of the more awkward moments from the event. The 29-year-old tennis player at the center of the controversy subsequently faced backlash for her actions. As mentioned by Us Weekly, even former world No. 1 player Boris Becker chastised the athlete for her actions. However, as previously alluded to, Ms. Putintseva released a statement on her Instagram story, which was captured by the aforementioned news outlet. In it, she explained that her attitude at the time had nothing to do with any supposed wrongdoing on the ball girl’s part:
I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was when she was giving me balls. Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really pissed at myself by not winning the game from the break point 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 [were] doing amazing as always at the Open.
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This is far from the first unflattering moment to ever occur in the history of the U.S. Open. Back in 2020, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was disqualified after hitting a line judge with a ball. Djokovic later apologized for his actions, explaining that he’d checked on the judge and that she was OK at the time. He also stated that the entire situation – which involved considerable blowback for him – had left him “really sad and empty.” On a non-ball related note, another awkward moment at the Open occurred in 2018, when sexually graphic audio was heard during the proceedings.
Aside from the ball girl situation, another unforeseen development occurred during this year’s events, and it more so had to do with viewers. DirecTV blacked out the game in mid-broadcast due to the cable provider not reaching an extension with the sports network’s parent company, Disney. That wild turn of events led to a number of consumers taking to the Internet to express their grievances.
While the situation involving Yulia Putintseva and the ball girl is unfortunate, it’s, at the very least, good to see that the former has apologized for how everything went down. The Internet is forever, though, and it’s likely that many won’t forget that boo-filled clip.
With the fall season coming just around the corner, be sure that you are on the lookout for other sporting events like football games. You should also keep your eye on the 2024 TV schedule for information on other content headed your way.
