(VIDEO) The ultimate tennis villain: Yulia Putintseva cups ear to crowd and dances to chorus of boos after ending Sonmez Australian Open run
WTA
Yulia Putintseva bundled out Zeynep Sonmez during the night at the Australian Open coming from a second set loss to win 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in the end and move into the fourth round but it was in fact her celebration at the end that drew the ire.
Sonmez was having her best career run and had a partizan crowd there to help support her but that also worked to their detriment as Putintseva found time to cup her ear to the crowd as soon as she sealed the win.
A player who isn't afraid to be the villain, Putintseva took it one step further and amidst getting boos over cheers, she decided to start dancing to the chorus of boos. But as she said post match during her press conference, it was done for a reason and called out the crowd for being disrespectful. She said that they were coughing between serves and screaming and so in her right mind she was right to rile them up.
“There’s always someone in favor and someone to cheer for. That’s what’s great about the sport. But today I think there were a lot of disrespectful moments, when they were screaming between my first and second serves. Screaming not even like really loud, like just to make me make a mistake," she said during post match press.
"In the game I think it was 4-3, it was a big point, I opened the court very good, I take my forehand, and the guy just started like coughing just for my shot. I was like ‘Okay, now I’m not gonna lose.’ Like really. I was ready to take it all. I was ready to fight until I die there. What can I do? Some people have education of tennis and some of them not.”
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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