Jelena Ostapenko's 'whiny' behavior & fellow WTA star's controversial conduct with ball kids called out by ex-American pros

Ex-American pros Jack Sock and Steve Johnson recently named Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva to their ‘naughty list’. The former ATP stars called out Ostapenko for her ‘whiny' demeanour on court, while showing their dissatisfaction with Putintseva’s behaviour with ball kids.

Ostapenko and Putintseva are controversial players on the WTA Tour. Earlier this year, the Latvian caused an uproar when she called Taylor Townsend ‘uneducated’ after their match at the US Open. Meanwhile, Putintseva was under hot water with fans last year after she ignored a ball girl at the 2024 US Open.

Recently, in an episode of the Nothing Major podcast, Jack Sock named Jelena Ostapenko to his ‘naughty list' due to her ‘whiny' behaviour during matches, saying,

“I'm going to go with Jelena Ostapenko. Sometimes she gets into it on the court with some people like kind of just a little whiny.”

Meanwhile, Steve Johnson called out Yulia Putintseva for her controversial interactions with ball kids, saying,

“(For me) it’s Yulia Putintseva. She always just seems to be in the in like controversy as the as our folks across the pond would say. Yeah, she's like, you know, she's got the staring at the ball kid. She just, you don't do anything to the ball people out there, ball kids, ball adults. Like treat those people. You got to treat them fully with respect. You can't dog those people while you're out on the court. So, I don't like that.”

Showing his agreement with Johnson, Jack Sock also criticised Putintseva's time delaying tactics on court, adding,

“When she's losing, she always packs shoelaces but whenever it's like a critical time in the match, she'll like slide to the ball and then immediately say she like ripped the shoelace and it's like a tactic. (She has and) takes minutes on minutes and then change the shoelace and the other girls always freak out like it's a full thing.”

Other players included in the Nothing Major podcast’s ‘naughty list' were WTA stars Elena Rybakina and Danielle Collins, as well as ATP players Corentin Moutet, Daniil Medvedev and Reilly Opelka.

Jelena Ostapenko shares glimpses from her Maldives vacation

Ostapenko at the WTA Finals 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

After a hectic 2025 season, Jelena Ostapenko is making the most of her time away from court. The Latvian enjoyed a trip to Maldives with her boyfriend to celebrate her off-season and shared glimpses from her vacation with fans on Instagram. The post included snaps of the tennis star on the beach in a bikini as well as photos of the beautiful scenery.

On the tennis end of things, Jelena Ostapenko delivered several impressive performances in 2025. Highlights of her year include a title finish at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and a runners-up finish at the Qatar Open, a WTA 1000 event. Ostapenko ended the year ranked No.7 in the world.