Yulia Putintseva was booed mainly because of a heated crowd dynamic at the 2026 Australian Open, not for a single rule-breaking incident or scandal.

What actually happened

  • The match in question was her Australian Open third‑round win over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, who had a big, emotional supporter base in the crowd.
  • During the match, Putintseva felt parts of the crowd were disrespectful , shouting and screaming between her first and second serves, which she believed was an attempt to make her miss.
  • After closing out the win, she celebrated by cupping her ear toward the stands and blowing kisses, then did a playful, provocative little dance near her chair. This taunting celebration triggered loud boos from many of the Turkish (and neutral) fans.
  • The booing continued through her on‑court interview, turning the moment into a full “player vs crowd” scene that quickly became a talking point online.

Why fans say she was booed

From reports and forum chatter, a few reasons keep coming up:

  • She beat a huge underdog local favorite for Turkish fans (Sonmez was trying to make national history by reaching the fourth round), so the crowd was already emotionally invested against her.
  • Her ear‑cupping, blowing kisses, and dancing celebration were seen by some as mocking the fans rather than just enjoying the win, so they responded with boos.
  • Putintseva is known as a fiery, theatrical player, so some viewers read her body language as deliberately antagonistic, even though others thought it was just her normal competitive edge.

One highly upvoted fan take summed it up as her “targeting only the unruly crowd” and making sure it looked like she was teasing the fans, not disrespecting her opponent.

Her own explanation

Putintseva later said she felt the crowd crossed a line by:

  • Yelling and screaming during her service motion between first and second serves.
  • Distracting her mid‑point, including coughs or noises just as she was about to hit.

She called the behavior disrespectful and framed her celebration and dancing as a way to enjoy the win and cope with the whistling and boos rather than back down.

She also mentioned she coped during the match by singing a random “rabbit song” from an old Russian movie in her head to stay calm and focused, which has now become part of the lore around the match.

Not the first time she’s been booed

This isn’t the first crowd‑incident in her career:

  • At the 2024 US Open, she was booed in New York after an awkward exchange where she appeared to ignore balls tossed by a ball girl before a serve.
  • The clip went viral, and commentators criticized her attitude, prompting her to apologize publicly to the ball girl afterward and call her own behavior “terrible.”

So, for people asking “Putintseva why was she booed” right now, they are usually referring either to:

  • The 2026 Australian Open match vs Zeynep Sonmez, where the boos were about her provocative celebration and tension with a partisan, noisy crowd.
  • Or the 2024 US Open moment with the ball girl, where she was booed for what many saw as rude on‑court behavior, which she later apologized for.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.