Tennis star told 'nobody likes you' in furious row hits back at rival in four-word jibe

Tennis star Yulia Putintseva has continued her war of words with rival Maria Sakkari after the Greek star told her "nobody likes you" during a heated clash at the Bad Homburg Open - as she accused her of being a hypocrite on social media.

The pair exchanged insults during the third round match, which Sakkari won 7-5, 7-6, after giving each other a lukewarm handshake at the start.

Sakkari later told Putintseva to "act like a human being", which led to an angry reaction from the Kazakhstani player - who told her to "go f*** yourself".

After Sakkari followed Putintseva to her bench and appeared to say, "F***ing hell, I'm what?", she then followed it up by saying: "Nobody likes you!"

Putintseva was beaten in straight sets and further irked Sakkari, who could be heard telling her to look into her eyes when shaking hands.

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Putintseva then decided to continue the conflict on Instagram as she posted a story showing Sakkari previously failing to make eye contact with opponents after games, including against Emma Raducanu. She wrote a caption that said: "And the plot thickens..."

She also posted a message in a separate clarifying her actions on the court. She said: "By the way - not that I care - I shook her hand as most women do. Clearly not according to the 'hugging protocol' some men seem to follow."

This is not the first time Putintseva has been involved in controversy during her tennis career. At the end of last year, she was slammed after footage circulated of her standing motionless while a ballgirl bounced two balls towards her during her defeat to Jasmine Paolini at the US Open.

Putintseva apologised for her actions and said the video painted the wrong picture, adding: "It's kind of scary the way the world can judge someone from just a three second video, that someone posts from one side, without seeing the rest on what was really happening,"

"I was just playing tennis and lost a tough game, which was very close (in my opinion) to turn that match around. After the game (as you can see on a pic) I got very much disappointed and was almost crying, that I didn't do better.

"At this time the girl was giving me the ball, which I didn't even notice or so, because I was deep in my thoughts… I was not trying to humiliate her (or anyone) by not taking this ball that she was giving to me.

"I didn't do anything disrespectful to anyone at this particular moment. I do apologise, if this girl thinks that it was something towards her. (And btw her name is Kate, very nice girl, which understood that it was nothing towards her).

"I can't say that I am perfect all my career. I am getting angry on court, p*****, saying stupid stuff and curse like no tomorrow sometimes. Guilty for that. But I did never put myself "on top" of someone. That's just not me at all."