Tantrum Tweet-ography: Putintseva + Rodionova Burn Up the Desert

Yulia Putintseva came out smelling of roses in the desert Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Christopher Levy.
They say third time’s a charm – and in the case of World Tennis Day, it certainly rings true. Starting in Hong Kong and New York in 2013, the event has now become a global effort to increase and celebrate participation in tennis.
And what better way to celebrate than with a dramatic bagel, courtesy of Anastasia Rodionova and Yulia Putintseva in Indian Wells.
Two of the more – how shall we put this -“emotional and polarizing” players met in the final round of the Tuesday’s BNP Paribas Open qualifying. An ostensibly unassuming encounter, it was the match plenty of people were looking out for when the schedule of play – nay, the qualifying draw – was announced.
Twitter knew:
The umpires knew:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575432419160952833And the locker room, too:
Unfortunately for everyone who isn’t at the tennis mecca south of Coachella Valley, the match was not streamed. Thankfully, a number of brave souls took to twitter to provide regular updates of the players’ (read: Rodionova’s) shenanigans. The Russian-born Aussie might have eaten a bagel, but it was smeared with drama, arguments, and code violations.
Even before it began, there was something in the desert air:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575435165826052096It was Rodionova, already on fire…
The Australian was broken broken in the first game and Putintseva began acing her opponent..
…that’s when things escalated quickly:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575436688324845570Rodionova lectured on how challenging really works:
Referee Mariana Alves arrived in the SECOND game:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575438940120875008(…and it wouldn’t be the last time, either).
Putintseva celebrated, earning a signature deathglare from her irritated opponent:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575439448499847168Mariana Alves once again tried her best to calm down the situation but to no avail.
Making matter worse, the crowd was extremely pro-Putintseva:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575440047656169472It became a live case study for umpires far and wide:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575440749983989760The madness continued…
By 5-0, all hell broke loose:
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575445584254930944Putitseva eventually served out the bagel. Rodionova cried during yet another discussion with Alves. The second set proved to be a calmer affair, perhaps thanks to sister Arina’s words of wisdom.
The Kazakh eventually won, 6-0, 6-4, and the match concluded in unsurprising fashion.
“Handshake? No, thank you, I’m outta here.”
https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575456090114035712https://twitter.com/StephintheUS/status/575455909532434434
Happy World Tennis Day, everyone.
A massive thanks to the 5 MVPs of the match: Maria, Steph, Christopher, Alyssa, and Romeo.
What did you think of the match? Are you #teamPoots or #teamRodio? Sound off in the comments!
Amazeballs! So bummed it wasn’t streamed!
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Bloody embarrassing that she’s an ‘aussie’.
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