The recent fiery exchange between tennis players on court has spilled over onto social media platforms.
The incident occurred yesterday during the first round of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany, where Maria Sakkari defeated Yulia Putintseva with a score of 7-5, 7-6.
Tensions rose significantly during the post-match handshake, with both players exchanging harsh words and insults.
According to reports from the match, Sakkari told Putintseva to “act like a human being” and directly stated, “nobody likes you”.
Sakkari also criticized Putintseva for not making eye contact during their tense handshake.
Putintseva reportedly responded to Sakkari`s comments by sarcastically curtsying and then allegedly telling her to “go f*** herself”.
Following the on-court confrontation, Putintseva took to social media to offer her perspective on the dispute.
On Instagram, she wrote: “By the way – not that I care – I shook her hand as most women do.”
She added a jab, saying: “Clearly not according to the `hugging protocol` some men seem to follow.”
To support her point about handshake etiquette, Putintseva then shared past photos showing Sakkari appearing to avoid eye contact with opponents, including Martina Trevisan and Emma Raducanu, during previous post-match handshakes.
She captioned these posts with the phrase “and the plot thickens” accompanied by a clown emoji.
When Maria Sakkari was asked about the confrontation in a post-match interview, she commented wryly: “I don`t think she`s going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives.”
Sakkari concluded her thoughts on the matter by saying: “But I don`t care to be honest. I have very good friends.”
Maria Sakkari is a well-known player, a former world No. 3, who reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and US Open in 2021.
Yulia Putintseva is also no stranger to controversy during matches, having been involved in notable incidents, including a widely reported bizarre tantrum directed at a ball girl in 2024.
