Sakkari to Putintseva: “Nobody Likes You”

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday June 22, 2025

Maria Sakkari has taken a page from the Andy Murray playbook and called out another player.

The 86th-ranked Greek wild card got into a spat with Yulia Putintseva after notching a 7-5, 7-6 win over her on Sunday in Bad Homburg. On-court microphones picked up Sakkari telling Putintseva “Nobody likes you” after the first match of the 2025 Bad Homburg Open was completed.

Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva got heated during their handshake in Bad Homburg 😳

Watch the full clip here and read more from @Tennis below 👇 https://t.co/Xi8KegqHOu pic.twitter.com/wvS84NILKu

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 22, 2025

The pair exchanged more than those words, as Sakkari approached Putintseva to clarify what was being said.

“When you shake hands with someone, look them in the eyes,” Sakkari said.

She continued her attack of the World No.27 during her post-match interview saying: “I don’t think she’s going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives, but I don’t care, to be honest. I have very good friends and I’ll go to dinner with them. Let me leave it here, and say that I have respect for her as a player, but that’s it.”

It reminds us of the time that Murray told Lukas Rosol that everybody hated him:

We’re actually not sure what is meaner: giving someone a bad handshake or telling someone that nobody likes them?

Sakkari will face either Belinda Bencic or Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round at Bad Homburg.