Yulia Putintseva Fires Back After Maria Sakkari Tells Her 'Nobody Likes You' at Bad Hamburg Open

The recent game between Yulia Putintseva and Maria Sakkari at the Bad Homburg Open ended with more drama off the court than on. The first-round match soon turned into a heated exchange of words. It did not turn out great.

Sakkari finally won the hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) match, but the actual fireworks erupted at the net after the match when the two players shook hands.

Exchange of Hot Words Filmed in Court

Yulia Putintseva Fires Back at Maria Sakkari After Bad Hamburg

According to Fox News, the moment the match ended, the two players traded insults. As they quarreled, microphones recorded Maria Sakkari telling Putintseva, "Nobody likes you," as the Kazakh player was said to have used vulgar language in reference to her opponent.

The fight continued even after the umpire intervened to calm them down.

Putintseva Brings the Rivalry to Social Media

Putintseva did not keep information to herself after the on-court dispute. The Kazakh tennis superstar went on to Instagram, quickly fighting against Sakkari.

Yulia Putintseva Fires Back at Maria Sakkari After Bad Hamburg

In the Instagram story, Putintseva explicitly said, "By the way—not that I care—I shook her hand as most women do. Clearly, not according to the 'hugging protocol' some men seem to follow."

Her biting remark suggested that the expectations of Sakkari were disproportionate or exceptional.

Social Media Post Points Out Sakkari's Hypocrisy

Putintseva further intensified her response by reposting a video clip showing Maria Sakkari's contradictory behavior. In the clip, Sakkari is seen instructing Putintseva to maintain eye contact during their handshake. Yet, Putintseva exposed her opponent by showing screengrabs of Sakkari herself failing to follow this very advice with two other competitors, according to TalkSport.

She captioned the clip humorously, "And the plot thickens..." and added a clown emoji.

Third Meeting Provides Fire to Enflamed Rivalry

The Bad Homburg Open match was the third meeting between the two, and it drew attention to an enflamed rivalry. Prior to this most recent meeting, each had a single win over the other, so this meeting was important in their competitive story.

Even with the controversy following the match's conclusion, Maria Sakkari successfully progressed to the Bad Homburg Open's next round. Her next match will be against either Belinda Bencic or Ekaterina Alexandrova.