Wimbledon star sobs into towel during humiliating loss a year after conquering Iga Swiatek

Yulia Putintseva suffered a humbling fall from grace just under 12 months after her barnstorming Wimbledon win over Iga Swiatek. The only positive she can take is that the suffering didn't last long, as her bid for glory at SW19 was ended in just 43 minutes by Amanda Anisimova.

Putintseva went on the best Wimbledon run of her career in 2024. Her march to the round of 16 included big wins over 27th seed Katerina Siniakova in round two and top seed Swiatek in round three. But this grass-court season has been considerably less successful.

The 30-year-old was knocked out in the first round of the HSBC Championships at Queen's, the second round of the Nottingham Open and the first round of the Bad Homburg Open before rocking up at the All England Club. And that is where she was dealt her heaviest defeat of all.

With only 30 per cent of points won on her first serve and zero break point opportunities in the entire match, Putintseva was thrashed 6-0 6-0 by 13th seed Anisimova in a one-sided mauling on Court 15.

And she didn't take it especially well. During a changeover, Putintseva was seen sobbing into her towel with both hands covering her face as the crowd watched on.

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In a scene that was tough to watch, the Kazakhstani athlete was forced to wipe her eyes and crack on with the match once the chair umpire called time. With Putintseva dumped out of the tournament, Anisimova will prepare for a second-round test against Mexican competitor Renata Zarazua.

It was an unusual break of character for Putintseva, who is usually a feisty and controversial character capable of giving opponents a piece of her mind. That's exactly what she did after a defeat to Maria Sakkari earlier this month, with the pair clashing at the net and almost squaring up.

Putintseva told Sakkari to 'leave her alone' and the Greek responded by repeatedly saying 'nobody likes you'. Afterwards, Sakkari was asked what they were arguing about and, jokingly, whether she had been invited for dinner.

"I don't think she is going to invite me to dinner for the rest of our lives, to be honest," she explained. "But I don't care. I have very good friends - I'll go to dinner with them. Let me just leave it there and say that I have respect for her as a player, but that's it."

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