(Video) Yulia Putintseva Twerks in Front of Hostile Australian Open Crowd During Third-Round Clash with Zeynep Sonmez

Yulia Putintseva censured the Australian Open crowd for disrupting her match multiple times after battling past Zeynep Sonmez.

(Video) Yulia Putintseva Twerks in Front of Hostile Australian Open Crowd During Third-Round Clash with Zeynep Sonmez

Yulia Putintseva (R) cupped her ear and twerked after defeating Zeynep Sonmez (L) (Image via X/Roland Garros, The Tennis Letter)

Yulia Putintseva made sure to give it back to the fans after defeating Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. On Friday (January 23), the Kazakh ace clinched a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over the 23-year-old after over two and a half hours.

Putintseva clashed with not just the qualifier but also the partisan crowd. And after winning the last point of the match, she cupped her ear as the crowd on Show Court Arena booed her heavily.

Putintseva was not done yet. After the customary handshake with her opponent and the chair umpire, the 31-year-old continued her defiant celebration, this time by walking toward the stands and twerking boldly, paying no heed to the booing crowd.

Watch the video here:

Putintseva produced a similar celebration after overcoming Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, bowed multiple times before the crowd on Court 6. During her post-match interview after her match against Sonmez, Putintseva simply ignored the heavy boos, sarcastically calling the crowd passionate.

Really crazy atmosphere here. The guys, look at them. They’re very passionate about what they’re doing. Very, very great to see- especially against me, because I love this kind of battle.

Yulia Putintseva said

Putintseva at the press conference said she started to sing Song About Rabbits, from the 1968 Soviet comedy The Diamond Arm, during the match. She was distracting herself with this song, which is about rabbits eating grass and who are also unafraid of any predators. She sang this song to herself during that match against Maia as well.

Yulia Putintseva slams the Turkish crowd for disrupting her match

It was at the press conference after her match against Zeynep Sonmez that Yulia Putintseva shared what she truly felt about the crowd. She said that while she appreciated them for being passionate, she accused them crossing the line on multiple occasions, for which they received warnings from the chair umpire as well.

Yulia Putintseva
Yulia Putintseva (Image via X/Billie Jean King Cup)

The crowd is always in favor of someone and has someone to cheer for, and that’s what is great about the sport, but today was really a lot of disrespectful moments. There was a lot of screaming between my first and second serve, and screaming really loudly, just to make me make a mistake.

Yulia Putintseva said

Putintseva has made the Grand Slam second week for the first time since the 2024 Wimbledon, where her run was ended by Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16. The former World No.20 is a three-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, reaching the stage at the 2016 and 2018 French Opens, and the 2020 US Open.

In the game, I think it was [at] 4-3, it was a big point, and I opened the court very good, and I took my forehand, and a guy just started coughing just for my shot. I was like ‘OK, now I’m not going to lose’. I was ready to take it all. I was ready to fight until I die there. What can I do? Some people have an education of tennis, and unfortunately, some of them do not.

Yulia Putintseva added

At the Australian Open, Putintseva has made the fourth round for the first time. Last year, her run ended in the third round. Putintseva will next be locking horns with 29th seed Iva Jovic, who upset seventh seed and two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini. It will be their first head-to-head meeting.

Putintseva, the winner of three titles from six finals, has yet to clinch a trophy since the 2024 Birmingham Classic. She has yet to win a Big Title. Apart from the three Grand Slam quarterfinals, she has reached four quarterfinals in WTA 1000 events.

Also read: (Video) Mirra Andreeva Reportedly Drops the F Bomb After Defeating Maria Sakkari at the Australian Open