Kazakh tennis player criticized after US Open defeat

Julia Putintseva endured the bitterness of defeat in the third round of the US Open. The Kazakh player lost to Jasmine Paolini 3-6, 4-6, and inflicted her frustrations on a ball girl. The audience booed her, and a recording of the incident surfaced online.

Julia Putintseva was not expected to win against the Italian, but she had the opportunity to shine earlier in the tournament. She won her match against China's Xiyu Wang 6-1, 7-6(4), while Jasmine Paolini advanced to the third round due to the retirement of Karolina Pliskova.

The match was competitive and provided an entertaining show for the fans despite the Kazakh player's inappropriate behaviour towards the ball girl.

After a few minutes of subpar play, the tennis player went to the side of the court to receive serves, but she ignored them. The balls just bounced off her body. The audience expressed their frustration by booing and whistling at the Asian competitor, and a video of this moment quickly spread online.

Julia Putintseva is currently ranked 32nd in the WTA rankings. Throughout her career, she has faced Iga Świątek five times, with Świątek winning four of those encounters. On the other hand, this was her first match against Jasmine Paolini, and it is unlikely to be a fond memory.

The first set did not go her way. She lost her serve early and repeated the mistake twice more in the sixth and eighth games, leading to a 3-6 set loss. She began the second set strongly but not well enough to dominate the fifth-seeded WTA player. She lost 4-6, and the match lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes.