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Yulia Putintseva's 2024 US Open charge came to an end with a third round loss against Jasmine Paolini at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and her emotions appeared to boil over by taking her anger out at a ball girl, as fans slammed her for the disrespect.
The Kazakhstani was dismantled by Paolini 6-3, 6-4 as the 29-year-old crashed out of the tournament by losing 22 winners and being broken four times from six attempts in a very off-colour performance.
But her emotions were clearly not in check when she ignored a young girl who was simply trying to do her job by ing her the balls for her serve despite the teenager looking no older than 16.
As the kid offered the balls to the professional tennis player, she simply allowed them to bounce off her and away before finally choosing one, in what was considered disrespectful by fans as boos cascaded around the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The conversation turned to online social media circles too as fans responded to a video of the incident on X.com, formerly Twitter.
One wrote, "Not shocking and not the first time she's been b**chy with ball kids when losing. She's just a nasty person."
A second added, "Sorry but this is unforgivable."
Whilst a third wrote, "It's nothing new. And unfortunately, she has done worse. I am just waiting for her to retire."
And a fourth concluded, "Ball girl should've taken the tennis ball and threw it right in her face."
Who will Jessica Paolini play next?
Paolini's comfortable victory on her in front of the American crowd earned her rapturous celebration against the day's villain of the court as she booked her place in the Round of 16.
Now just two games away from reaching the 2024 US Open, the Italian becomes the first woman from the European nation to reach this phase of the competition since 2016 and is one of two women to reach the fourth round of every 2024 Grand Slam along with Coco Gauff.
She will play Karolina Muchova on Monday, September 2 for a shot in the semifinals against the 2023 finalist.
"I'm a fan of her," Paolini said. "She's playing unbelievable. I really love how she plays.
"She can play every shot, slice, volleys, serve-and-volleys. She's a very complete player, I think, very tough opponent."