Yulia Putintseva Blasts ‘Disrespectful’ Australian Open Crowd for Constant Antics During Third-Round Clash Against Zeynep Sönmez

Yulia Putintseva entered her third-round match against Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez with no support from the crowd at the Show Court Arena in Melbourne Park. However, she left the court victorious despite the boos for the entirety of the match and slammed the crowd for their antics against her.

Sonmez had made history at the 2026 Australian Open by becoming the first player to reach the second round of the tournament after stunning No.10 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets. The Turkish qualifier continued her by beating Anna Bondár in the second round to claim her place in the third round.

Putintseva and Sonmez began their clash with hitting top-level tennis. As both players were engrossed in the match, most of the crowd were cheering loudly for Sonmez, which annoyed Putintseva. The Kazakhstan star made sure to battle hard to beat Sonmez 6-3, 6(3)-7, 6-3 in Melbourne.

After the victory, Putintseva wasted no time giving it back to the crowd, as when the crowd started, the Kazakhstan blew kisses to Sonmez supporters and then gave her opponent a brief handshake in the net. As the crowd continued its boos, Putintseva turned the moment into a playful one as she broke off into dance.

The move angered the crowd more, but she cared less as she was satisfied with her win. Afterwards, she was asked why she reacted to the fans the way she did after beating Sonmez. Putintseva noted that she was disrespected by the crowd as they often screamed between her first and second serves:

That’s what’s great about the sport. But today I think there were a lot of disrespectful moments, when they were screaming between my first and second serves. Screaming not even like really loud, like just to make me make a mistake. In the game I think it was 4-3, it was a big point, I opened the court very good, I take my forehand, and the guy just started like coughing just for my shot. I was like ‘Okay, now I’m not gonna lose.’ Like really. I was ready to take it all.

Sonmez will leave the 2026 Australian Open happy with her performance despite crashing out in the third round. She became the first Turkish woman to reach the singles third round of the Melbourne Grand Slam. She hopes to build on the performance as the season continues, particularly in the coming Middle East swing.

Yulia Putintseva says she used a Russian song from an old movie to block noise from fans at the Australian Open

On paper, Yulia Putintseva was the favorite to beat Zeynep Sonmez in the third round, but the match itself became a rollercoaster. She was on course to win the match in straight sets after she led 3-1 in the second set, but the Turkish qualifier delivered an astonishing comeback to win the set in a tiebreak.

However, Putintseva thrived in her role as the pantomime villain in the match, overcoming the talented opponent and the partisan crowd to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. She revealed during her press conference that she blocked the crowd noise by singing a Russian song about rabbits:

It’s kind of funny but I was singing a Russian song in an old movie about rabbits: It has nothing to do with anything, it’s just about rabbits who eat the grass. I was distracting myself with this. Usually it’s Taylor Swift, but here it has been the rabbit song. I don’t know why. The dancing in the end was just because I was too tired and the crowd were whistling.

Putintseva is in the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career. She will face Iva Jovic, who stunned Jasmine Paolini in straight sets on Thursday (January 23). Putintseva is currently ranked World No.94, but after the Melbourne Grand Slam, she’s sure to break into the top 70.

Also Read: Caitlin Clark Honored with 24th Birthday Tributes From Tennis ‘GOAT’ Billie Jean King

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