US Open: Yulia Putintseva apologises for "ugly" treatment of ball girl in third-round loss

In what was branded an ‘ugly’ moment during the third-round match between Yulia Putintseva and Jasmine Paolini, the Kazakhstani player Putintseva appeared to ignore a ball girl who repeatedly tried to toss her a ball.

Viral video of the moment shows the ball girl throw three balls to Putintseva. The first two bounce off her as she appears to stare at the girl with no reaction, eventually catching the third and picking another up off the floor before she heads to the court. An unimpressed crowd can be heard booing her behaviour in the background of the clip.

Putintseva went on to lose in straight sets to Italian Paolini, and later posted an apology on social media. She wrote: “I want to apologise to the ball girl for the way I was, when she was giving me balls.

“Honestly speaking it was not about her. I was really p***** at myself by not winning the game from the breakpoint 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.”

Her behaviour drew criticism from Boris Becker and fans online, with user TheTennisLetter writing: “So many ball kids look up to these athletes. Let's try to treat them kinder.”

The US Open has been action-packed so far with both the men’s and women’s reigning singles champions eliminated. Novak Djokovic was beaten in the third round by Alexei Popyrin while Emma Navarro got the better of Coco Gauff. Britain’s Jack Draper is still in contention and plays Tomas Machac on Monday evening. Joe Salisbury, alongside American partner Rajeev Ram, are campaigning for a fourth title in the men’s doubles.