Australian Open 'brat' loses the plot in 'ridiculous' meltdown

Yulia Putintseva is at it again.

The volatile tennis player from Kazakhstan made unwanted headlines at the Australian Open when she flipped the middle finger to the crowd as she was leaving the court after a loss.

She’s well-known for her fiery temperament, and has been labelled a ‘brat’ on numerous occasions.

And she certainly didn’t do much to shake off that tag at the Miami Open on Wednesday.

Putintseva was in action against Kirsten Flipkens when a close line call went against her, resulting in the loss of the first set.

Putintseva thought a Flipkens winner had landed out, but the call never came, leaving the young Kazakh fuming.

She pelted her racquet down onto the court before doing the same with her hat, before yelling towards her box about the umpire.

She threw her racquet for a second time before berating the chair umpire as she walked past to her chair.

“This is just ridiculous,” the TV commentator said.

To her credit, Putintseva managed to regain her composure and went on to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Not the only umpiring controversy

British player Dan Evans was also at the centre of an umpiring blow-up in Miami on Wednesday.

Evans referred to umpire Rafael Maia as a “clown in the chair” as he left the court and said “That was a f—ing s—show out here. That was the worst performance I’ve ever seen. Write it up in your report.”

Evans copped two code violations – for audible obscenity and whacking his water bottle with his racquet – drawing a point penalty.

“Tell them to get ready for me in the office,” Evans told the umpire.

“You’ve completely lost control today, my friend.”

With an unusual number of matches crammed into the schedule (53 in all) after Tuesday’s complete washout, some players suggested tournament organisers had been forced to bring in extra umpires at the last minute.