The tennis player involved in a recent tense on-court confrontation has moved the dispute onto social media.
Maria Sakkari defeated Yulia Putintseva with a score of 7-5, 7-6 in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany yesterday.
Credit: Sky Sports
Credit: Sky Sports
Tensions escalated when the players shook hands after the match, exchanging insults.
Sakkari reportedly told Putintseva to “act like a human being” and stated that “nobody likes you”.
She also criticized Putintseva for not making eye contact during the frosty handshake.
Putintseva`s response included a sarcastic curtsy and reportedly using strong expletives towards Sakkari.
The Kazakh player later commented on the disagreement via social media.
Writing on Instagram, she said: “By the way – not that I care – I shook her hand as most women do.”
She added: “Clearly not according to the `hugging protocol` some men seem to follow.”
Putintseva then shared two older photos where Sakkari appeared not to be looking at her opponents, Martina Trevisan and Emma Raducanu, during past handshakes.
Credit: @yulia_putintseva
Credit: @yulia_putintseva
Putintseva captioned these posts with “and the plot thickens” along with a clown emoji.
When asked about the incident in her post-match interview, Sakkari remarked: “I don`t think she`s going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives.”
Credit: Sky Sports
She added: “But I don`t care, to be honest. I have very good friends.”
Sakkari is a former world number 3, having reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and US Open in 2021.
Putintseva herself is familiar with controversy, having been involved in a notable incident with a ball girl at a major tournament in 2024.
