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Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putinseva were embroiled in a heated handshake controversy at the Bad Homburg Open on Sunday (June 22). Following the match, a prominent male tennis insider gave his two cents on the verbal altercation between the two players. However, the tennis community is at odds with their opinion, believing that they shouldn't be speaking about women's tennis.
Sakkari was on top of her game during her first-round meeting with the 34th-ranked Putintseva, downing her 7-5, 7-6(6) in just over two hours. They then exchanged a few choice words at the net, after which the Greek told the Kazakh that "nobody on the WTA Tour likes her".
Since their dust-up at Bad Homburg, many fans on X (formerly Twitter) have given their views on both players. Earlier on Monday (June 23), tennis journalist Jose Morgado took to his account to express solidarity with Maria Sakkari. He wrote:
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"This was EVERYTHING. And I feel like Maria Sakkari spoke for 99% of the locker room."
A few others on X, however, don't feel Morgado has the right to speak on drama in women's tennis considering he covers men's tennis much more.
"Male 'journalist' speaking about female locker room," one fan wrote on X.
"You never watch content created by wta players themselves dont you," another insisted.
Some fans, meanwhile, straight-up disagreed with Sakkari being innocent.
"I feel like your 99% wrong about that bud," one fan claimed.
"I think 99% of the locker room has given a fly-by handshake after a tough loss, including Maria," another asserted.
Putintseva also received sympathy from a few fans for her seemingly innocuous handshake.
"But players don't really have to make eye contact while shaking hands," one more fan insisted.
"Literally nothing wrong w Yulia’s handshake," another claimed.
Maria Sakkari to face Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the quarterfinals of Bad Homburg Open 2025
Maria Sakkari will next take on eighth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Round of 16 at the 2025 Bad Homburg Open. The World No. 85 leads the Russian by a big margin of 6-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA Tour. Their second-round encounter at the 250-level event will mark their first clash on grass courts.
Sakkari will be hopeful of going deep in Bad Homburg, as it is the last tournament in the lead-up to Wimbledon. The 29-year-old will be eager to record consistently good showings towards the second half of the season and get her WTA ranking back inside the top 50.
