SOPA Images

'She always hated me,' Yulia Putintseva recalls online feud with Rennae Stubbs about mice saga | Exclusive

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Gouri Das | Last updated Dec 30, 2024 1:06 PM ET

Yulia Putintseva complained on social media about mice in her hotel room when she was forced to go into isolation for 14 days in Melbourne ahead of the 2021 Australian Open. As mice appeared in her hotel room, she spent hours trying to relocate to another room. That didn’t help at all as she spotted more mice in her next room.

In another post, she shared a picture of herself holding a sign that read, ‘We need fresh air to breathe’. Former doubles player Rennae Stubbs however downplayed her concerns, and this started a war of words on social media.

Putintseva in response, shared a video of the mice in her room but Stubbs said she called Putintseva out because of her complaints about not getting fresh air. In a recent podcast, the 29-year-old recalled that incident and her online feud with Serena Williams‘ former coach.

I remember she always hated me, so I have to remember. I’m guessing I did not hate it, but she don’t like me. That’s obvious. I don’t know why, but I mean, it’s her problem. She has less of a special person around her.
Yulia Putintseva said on the FirstSportz’s Fantastic Tennis Podcast

Yulia Putintseva slams critics for questioning her behavior at the 2024 US Open

Yulia Putintseva‘s clip involving a ball girl during her third-round clash with Jasmine Paolini sparked massive outrage in the tennis community. Putintseva, in the second set, paid no heed to the balls the ball kid had been giving her.

The ball kid was surprised when Putintseva let the first two balls bounce off her. The crowd started boo Putintseva, perceiving her action as disrespectful toward the ball kid.

The Kazakh player later apologized to her on Instagram, explaining how she was angry at herself for not winning a game from the breakpoint and was not at all focusing on what was going on around her. In that aforementioned podcast, Putintseva slammed her critics for misjudging her.

Listen to full podcast below:

They’re already judging you. Like, look what happened in the US Open. Like out of five seconds of video, they thought that I’m a hater of kids. Like, I don’t know what the…whatever it is. Five seconds. Why should I care about those people who make opinion on the other people about five-second video?
Yulia Putintseva said

Putintseva ended her campaign at Flushing Meadows after that match, losing with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-4. The World No. 29 was 39/ 22 in 2024 and lifted just the Birmingham Classic.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: