Yulia Putintseva booed off court as Australian Open crowd turns hostile after fiery win over Zeynep Sonmez

Kazakhstani tennis player Yulia Putintseva has been booed relentlessly by fans at the Australian Open during her entire post-match interview despite progressing through to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time.

Instead of being celebrated for her 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory over rising Turkish star Zeynep Sonmez inside Kia Arena, spectators turned on the world No.94 and immediately booed her for celebrating with her hand to her ear.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Fiery Aus Open winner booed off court as crowd turns hostile.

But the former top-20 star who made headlines after treating a ball kid with contempt at the 2024 US Open was not backing down.

Dancing and twerking on the court in response to the jeering, Putintseva showed just what she thought about the crowd after putting up with the hostile atmosphere throughout the two-and-a-half-hour contest.

While there was a small contingent of Kazakhstani fans cheering her on, they were drowned out by the louder crowd made up of many Turkish fans passionate about their national hero who was praised for her selfless and compassionate response to a ball girl who collapsed earlier this week.

“Honestly really crazy atmosphere. The guys... look at them. They’re very passionate about what they’re doing,” Putintseva said in her on-court interview.

“It’s great to see. Especially against me. Because I love this kind of battle.”

Her twerking and dancing in response to the crowd was slammed by some watching, including tennis commentator Liz Smylie who labelled it “unnecessary”.

Putintseva also questioned the level of education and intellect of the crowd, implying the fans in attendance may have lacked knowledge of tennis etiquette.

“Today I think there were a lot of disrespectful moments. There was a lot of screaming between my first and second serve and screaming really loud, just to make me make a mistake,” she said.

“In the game, I think it was 4-3, it was a big point, and I opened court very good and I take my forehand and a guy just starts coughing just for my shot.

“And I was like ‘OK, now I’m not going to lose’. I was ready to take it all. I was ready to fight until I die there.

“What can I do? Some people have an education of tennis, and unfortunately, some of them do not.”

Throughout the intense three-set match, the chair umpire was repeatedly required to intervene, reminding the rowdy crowd to not interrupt the players.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as a polite reminder, we do not whistle as the player is about to serve, thank you,” the official said.

Despite the hostility, she was grateful for those cheering her on.

“They’re the best, the best... it’s better to have less people but better support,” Putintseva said.

Putintseva will face 29th seed Iva Jovic in the fourth round after the American teen sensation knocked out Italy’s world No.8 Jasmie Paolini.

The episode had echoes of Danielle Collins last year slapping her backside in response to jeering fans in a win over Aussie Destanee Aiava.

It also comes after former world No.1 Naomi Osaka had a frosty exchange of her own in her clash with Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.

After self-reflecting, the two-time Australian Open champion later apologised for “disrespectful” comments she made towards her retiring Romanian opponent.