January 24, 2026 02:35 AM by Dzevad Mesic – Tennis World
Yulia Putintseva didn’t want to let Turkish fans’ provocations slide as the Kazakh taunted the group in quite a way following her Australian Open win over Zeynep Sonmez.
World No. 112 Sonmez, who is the top-ranked female tennis player from Turkey, reached the Australian Open third round for the first time as a qualifier. And since Australia has a strong Turkish diaspora, the 23-year-old saw a large number of Turkish fans come to support her in one of the biggest matches of her career.
Throughout the entire match, Sonmez’s fans were cheering very passionately and loudly for the world No. 112 despite receiving several warnings from the chair umpire several times. While the Turk did her best to scrape a tight second set, she couldn’t complete a comeback as Putintseva claimed a 6-3 6-7 (3) 6-3 win.
Moments after the match ended, Putintseva decided to first respond to Sonmez’s supporters by dropping her racket and placing her hand to her right ear as if she could not hear them. As the boos were coming the Kazakh’s way, she shook Sonmez’s hand and continued to taunt Turkish fans by dancing on the court and blowing them kisses.
“There is always someone in favour and someone to cheer for. That’s what’s great about the sport. But today I think [there were] really a lot of disrespectful moments when they were screaming between my first and second serve … just to make me [make a] mistake,” the world No. 94 said in her post-match presser.
After beating Sonmez and responding to Turkish fans, an Australian Open round-of-16 match against Iva Jovic awaits Putintseva.
Yulia Putintseva goes full villain against Australian Open crowd in feisty scene
By Reuters Published Jan. 23, 2026, 6:35 a.m. ET – New York Post
Yulia Putintseva turned pantomime villain at the Australian Open on Friday after taunting a raucous crowd of Turkish supporters following her 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3 victory over qualifier Zeynep Sonmez in the third round.
The Kia Arena was transformed into a sea of red Turkish flags as fans flocked to support their unlikely hero Sonmez, ranked 112th in the world, in her bid to become the first player from Turkey to reach a Grand Slam fourth round in the Open Era.
Sonmez, who beat 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round, looked down and out when trailing 3-1 in the second set but roared back to win it in a tiebreak, bringing huge cheers from her compatriots in the stands.
Putintseva held her nerve to win the final set but it was her post-match antics that stole the show.
Amid the cheering for the plucky qualifier, the Kazakh player cupped her hand to her ear and blew kisses to the Turkish fans, immediately eliciting a crescendo of boos.
After shaking hands with Sonmez, Putintseva then danced provocatively near her seat, prompting the Turkish fans to boo her throughout her on-court interview.
“Honestly, it was a really crazy atmosphere here. Look at them (Turkish fans). They’re very passionate about what they’re doing,” the Kazakh player said.
“It’s very great to see, especially against me, because I love this kind of battle.”
Putintseva also thanked the handful of Kazakhstan fans in the crowd, saying: “These guys are the best. It’s better to have less people but better support.”
The scene was reminiscent of Danielle Collins beating local favorite Destanee Aiava at the same court last year before blowing kisses at the booing fans and thanking them for paying for her next five-star vacation.
Putintseva later said she felt the Turkish fans were disrespectful at times for screaming between serves to try to force her into mistakes.
“What can I do? It’s just some people have education of tennis and, unfortunately, some of them not,” she told reporters.
“But I’m very happy that I kept my calm, because Yulia last year would probably throw something at them.”
What do you think? Be the first to comment.
Sonmez received a rousing ovation when she left the court having not only won the fans over with her results but also her kindness at the tournament.
She went viral on social media after her first-round match where she rushed to the aid of a ball girl who had fainted in the punishing heat.
Lord Buckbeak: "Will you come into my parlor?," said the Spider to the Fly. 