(Video) Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva Involved in a Heated Confrontation at Bad Homburg

Maria Sakkari defeated Yulia Putintseva in straight sets in her opening round match at Bad Homburg Open.

(Video) Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva Involved in a Heated Confrontation at Bad Homburg

Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putitseva were involved in a heated altercation (images via X/kostekcanu)

The opening round of the 2025 Bad Homburg Open witnessed a heated spectacle between Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva, who exchanged sharp words and displayed very evident tension during their post-match handshake at the net.

Sakkari had defeated Putintseva in a tightly contested match with a scoreline of 7-5, 7-6(6), for just her third Top 30 win in what has been a trying season for the Greek. Her best run so far this year has been at the Madrid Open, where she reached the Round of 16.

The Bad Homburg Open serves as a key warm-up event for the Wimbledon Championships, which will commence from next week. 86th ranked Sakkari’s appearance this year was only her second at the WTA 500 tournament, and she received a wildcard entry into the main draw.

The momentum shifted during a tense second-set tiebreak of the opening round match wherein a key point was marred by a disputed call that initially went in Putintseva’s favor. Sakkari challenged it, and the review overturned the call, awarding her the point. The Kazakh tennis star was, however, frustrated by the decision, which gave Sakkari a crucial lead in the tiebreaker.

As the players met at the net for the customary handshake, the tension boiled over. Putintseva was in no mood to linger for any post-match pleasantries as she quickly slapped Sakkari’s hand for a handshake, refrained from eye contact, and made a sarcastic bow to Sakkari before walking towards her chair.

Sakkari was not happy with her opponent’s behavior and called her out before returning to her chair. The on-court microphones picked up the Greek saying, “Nobody likes you… When you shake hands with someone, look them in the eyes.”

Maria Sakkari will face either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Belinda Bencic in the next round at Bad Homburg Open

Maria Sakkari’s opening round win gave her the edge in her head-to-head record over Yulia Putintseva, improving it to 3-1. This marked their first meeting on grass court, as they had only met on hard court prior to the Bad Homburg Open. The former World No. 3 addressed the heated exchange that took place with Putintseva, in her post-match on-court interview after she was prompted by the emcee:

I don’t think she’s going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives, but I don’t care, to be honest. I have very good friends, and I’ll go to dinner with them. Let me leave it here, and just say that I have respect for her as a player, but that’s it.

Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari (Image via X/Tennis Channel)

Sakkari will next play the winner of the match between Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No. 8 seed, and Swiss Belinda Bencic. Grass is not particularly a strong surface for the Greek, who is yet to win a title or reach a final in it.

She has also not made it beyond the third round of Wimbledon. The 29-year-old has otherwise won one title on hard court and one on clay in her career. The Bad Homburg Open marks Sakkari’s third tournament on grass court this season.

The Bad Homburg Open includes a star studded lineup of players such as the likes of Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini, Mirra Andreeva, Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina, defending champion Diana Shnaider and Berlin Open runner-up Wang Xinyu. Queen’s Club champion Tatjana Maria was eliminated in straight sets during her opening round match at the Bad Homburg Open by Leylah Fernandez.

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