Tennis player Yulia Putintseva issued an apology after her attitude toward a ball girl at the US Open sparked controversy this weekend.

“I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was when she was giving me balls,” the Kazakhstani athlete, 29, wrote via Instagram Story on Saturday, August 31. “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.”

Putintseva made headlines earlier on Saturday during her match against Jasmine Paolini of Italy. At one point, Putintseva motioned for a ball girl to throw her new balls, but she then let two balls bounce off her body before catching a third. The ball girl seemed confused by Putintseva’s reaction and stood motionless with her hands in the air before running back to the sidelines.

The crowd, meanwhile, booed Putintseva as she finally picked up the third ball and geared up to resume play.

Putintseva, who was born in Russia, ultimately lost the match to Paolini, 28, in straight sets and is now out of the tournament. Paolini will next face Karolina Muchova in the round of 16 on Monday, September 2.

Former world No. 1 tennis player Boris Becker slammed Putintseva for her behavior after the match. “Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behavior towards the ball girl !!!” he wrote via X on Sunday, September 1. (Becker, 56, won the US Open in 1989.)

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Rennae Stubbs, an Australian former tennis player who is now a coach, also called out Putintseva via social media. “The disrespect and obnoxious behavior here is unbelievable and typical from her,” she tweeted on Sunday.

Feliciano López, a Spanish former tennis pro who is the director of the Madrid Open, felt that Putintseva had humiliated the ball girl. “Shame on her!!!,” he tweeted. “Humiliation of a ball kid is the last thing you do on a tennis court.”

Piers Morgan jumped into the fray as well, sharing a video of the incident via X on Sunday with the caption, “Disgusting arrogance by @PutintsevaYulia – the ball
girl should have thrown the 3rd one in her taunting face.”

The US Open continues through Sunday, September 8.