'NOBODY LIKES YOU': INTENSE CONFRONTATION KICKS OFF AFTER HANDSHAKE DRAMA

Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva get into an ugly confrontation. (WTA)

Tempers flared in the blink of an eye between Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva at the Bad Homburg Open, as one player was told to "go f*** yourself".

Sakkari, a former world No.3, won her first match of the tournament against her Kazakh opponent, dropping serve once en route to a 7-5, 7-6(6) win.

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But seemingly out of nowhere, a meeting at the net resulted in a fiery altercation after Putintseva’s poor attempt at a handshake.

When Sakkari told Putintseva to act like a human being, the latter replied, "I was a human being," before telling the Greek star to "go f*** yourself".

"What did you say?" Sakkari responded in turn, as the pair continued to exchange insults.

After approaching Putintseva's bench multiple times, the mic picked up Sakkari saying, "Nobody likes you. When you shake hands, you look people in the eye."

The chair umpire opted to remain in her seat instead of separating the two players.

"I don't think she's going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives," Sakkari said jokingly in her on-court interview.

"But I don't care to be honest. I have very good friends."

At last year’s US Open, Putintseva issued a public apology on social media following her treatment of a ball kid when she appeared to ignore balls being passed to her.

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