Tennis Player Shades Ball Girl By Refusing to Catch Any Tennis Balls
As anyone who’s seen Challengers will tell you, there’s a lot of drama in tennis. Also a lot of homoeroticism, but that’s not what we’re talking about today.
Instead, we’re turning our focus to Yulia Putintseva, a tennis player representing Kazakhstan (who was born in Russia and now lives in Florida. Strange world!).
At a recent match against Jasmine Paolini of Italy, she gestured for a ball girl to throw her some balls. And so, the ball girl did — to which Putintseva reacted by simply watching them fall to the ground.
It was a bizarre slight, and while the crowd wasn’t sure why she did it, they opted to boo her anyway (probably a safe choice). Thankfully, karma was instant, and she lost the match, later issuing an apology via Instagram stories.
Be nice to your ball girls, people!
Ugly moment in the Putintseva vs Paolini match at the US Open.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 1, 2024
The ball girl tries tossing the ball and Yulia watches it bounce on the ground without moving.
So many ball kids look up to these athletes. Let's try to treat them kinder.
(via @MerThomp)pic.twitter.com/WaVzNcbb6R
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