Yulia Putintseva has continued her argument with Maria Sakkari off court, with the pair having been involved in a heated exchange at the Bad Homburg Open.
Sakkari respects Putintseva as a player but no more after they carried out a tense encounter at the net after their match in Germany.
Running in conjunction with the Eastbourne Open, the grass court tournament is taking place right before Wimbledon.
Former WTA number three Sakkari defeated Putintseva 7-5, 7-6(7-8), and told her opponent she should look the other person in the eye when shaking hands post-match.
Putintseva has exited the WTA 500 event after the defeat, with Sakkari setting up a round of 16 tie against eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Yulia Putintseva makes statement after tense exchange with Maria Sakkari
But Putintseva has since continued the tussle, taking to social media to share her stance on the exchange.
She posted a selfie on her Instagram story with the caption: “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.”
That certainly wasn’t the only post from the world number 34, who further stirred the pot by showing footage of Sakkari refusing to look other opponents in the eye during post-match handshakes.
What is the current WTA Tour schedule as Wimbledon approaches?
Time is running out for the WTA players to fine-tune their games for Wimbledon, where qualifying is already underway.
The Bad Homburg Open and Eastbourne Open reach their conclusions on June 28, with Wimbledon’s main draw starting on June 30.
The Nottingham Open and Berlin Open events meanwhile have just finished, with French Open champion Coco Gauff losing her first match on grass in 2025 at the latter.
And the ruthless nature of the WTA schedule is then on show as the summer continues, with the Iasi Open and Hamburg Ladies Open up right after Wimbledon.
The clay court events are followed by hard court tournaments in Washington D.C. and Prague, with the WTA 1000 Montreal competition getting underway before July is over.
And there are certain to be plenty more tussles such as the one involving Sakkari and Putintseva in the weeks to come.
It is incidentally the Greek player who is at least winning that battle on the court, having now won three of their four meetings on the WTA Tour.
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