Court Tension: Sakkari and Putintseva Face Off in Bad Homburg
A tense encounter took place in Bad Homburg on Sunday, when Greek Maria Sakkari and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva had an altercation on the center court after their first-round match. Sakkari secured the victory with a score of 7-5, 7-6 (6) in this Wimbledon warm-up event, but the celebration was marred by a tense moment at the net.Putintseva responded with an exaggerated bow, to which Sakkari replied: “Just be a human being.” The confrontation continued as Putintseva headed to the locker room. Sakkari, visibly annoyed, told an interviewer on the court that there was no good relationship between the two players.“When you shake someone’s hand, look them in the eye,” Sakkari was heard saying through the court microphone.
Maria Sakkari
In the next round, Sakkari will face Ekaterina Alexandrova or Belinda Bencic. Wimbledon will start on June 30.“I don’t think he’s going to invite me to dinner for the rest of our lives, but I don’t care,” Sakkari declared. “I have very good friends and I will have dinner with them. I’ll leave it here, and I’ll just say that I respect her as a player, but that’s all.”
Maria Sakkari
