(VIDEO) “It's a crazy scenario": Unusual scenes as Jacquemot’s coach exits mid-match against Putintseva

A peculiar situation unfolded in the second round of the Australian Open between Elsa Jacquemot and Yulia Putintseva, in which the Frenchwoman ended up ‘parting ways’ with her coach after a strange episode during her match.

Jacquemot had just come off a hard-fought victory lasting nearly three and a half hours against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, winning 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6[10-7]. After eliminating the 20th seed, she was set to face former top-20 Putintseva — who was also full of confidence after defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier.

However, the match was far from balanced, and Putintseva dominated from start to finish, claiming a 6-1, 6-2 victory. The experienced Kazakh delivered 80% first serves and won 72% of them, converting 5 of 6 break points, while Jacquemot managed just 1 of 7. Putintseva tallied 26 winners and only 13 unforced errors, compared to Jacquemot’s 15 winners and 21 unforced errors.

Beyond the scoreline and match play, a moment captured national television attention and later went viral on social media. Jacquemot’s coach, Simon Blanc, abruptly walked out during the second-round clash after a tense exchange with his own player.

Jacquemot appeared frustrated almost immediately on Court 5, trailing 5-0 within the first 25 minutes. Her anger was directed at Blanc, who had previously worked with Putintseva for several years. “He has coached her for years and there are schemes [weaknesses] that he hasn't even told me about, it's a crazy scenario,” Jacquemot told her team, highlighting the tension behind the scenes. The verbal confrontation seemed to push Blanc over the edge, and he left the court while pointing at the French player in clear frustration.

The match itself offered little relief for Jacquemot, who struggled to regain composure after the disruption. Despite her disappointment, she addressed the media with candor but avoided issuing any public apology to Blanc. “It was very difficult. This is a very tough loss. In the first game, something external disrupted me. I don't really want to talk about it now, it's my private sphere,” Jacquemot admitted. “This is a very complicated defeat for me because I wanted to go very far in this tournament.”

“I was far from my level in that match. So it's very frustrating. This is a loss that will be hard to digest,” she added. “My mental strength is my greatest asset. In a match like this, I let myself be disrupted by something external.”

“Unfortunately, I couldn't get back into it. I have many things to improve on this. I'll work on it. I'm mentally affected. I don't enjoy it at all, I'm falling apart, I'm playing very badly because it affected me psychologically.”

The 22-year-old player nonetheless achieved an important rise of 8 ranking positions and will position herself as world No. 52 at the conclusion of the tournament — her best ranking so far — making her France’s No. 2 behind only 2025 Roland Garros semifinalist Loïs Boisson, who is injured and absent from this Australian Open.