Piers Morgan complains: “Ball girl should have thrown the ball in her face” after US Open star’s “disgusting arrogance”
ANGER Piers Morgan claims a ball girl should have thrown a ball into Yulia Putintseva’s face as fans booed the tennis star for his “disgusting arrogance”.
The petulant Putintseva delivered an extraordinary silent tantrum on her way to elimination from the US Open against fifth-seeded Jasmine Paolini.
But spectators were horrified when the number 30 seed took out her frustration on the young girl in what seemed like a cruel, embarrassing manner.
Putintseva was trailing by a set, 2-4, in the second set when she stared at the ball girl with sullen anger, motionless and contemptuous.
But it got worse: she let a ball that the teenager threw to her fall onto her upper body and let a second ball bounce off her foot.
The girl remained calm and offered a third ball in the same time-honored manner – she dropped it over her head.
Putintseva, although still hesitant, eventually picked up the ball – perhaps encouraged by the increasingly loud boos from the crowd.
She later apologized for her actions on social media, insisting that she was only frustrated with herself over her third-round loss.
But it did not save them from an attack on the Internet.
Broadcaster Morgan wrote: “Disgusting arrogance from @PutintsevaYulia – the ball girl should have thrown the third one in her mocking face.”
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Tennis legend Boris Becker posted: “What does Putintseva think she’s doing… Terrible behavior towards the ball girl!!!”
And fans were equally shocked by the inappropriate antics.
One stormed: “Shame on her!!! Humiliating a ball boy is the last thing you can do on a tennis court.”
“Disgusting behavior,” said another, and this verdict also spoke for many: “Very bad impression. Putintseva should apologize. @usopen has a huge audience and it is inexcusable to make a ball girl look bad on such a public stage.”
The 29-year-old Moscow-born star actually apologized.
She posted: “I would like to apologize to the ball girl for my behavior when she gave me balls.
“To be honest, it wasn’t about her.
“I was really mad at myself because I couldn’t win the game from the break point onwards, and then I was so emotionally empty and lost in thought that I didn’t even concentrate on what was going on and who was giving me the ball…
“All the ball boys performed brilliantly at the Open, as always.”
One fan responded: “Well, it wasn’t about her! But it was still unfortunate behavior. It was the right thing to apologize.”