Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge runner-up Yulia Putintseva has received plaudits from many spectators in Dubai this past week including former world No1 Jelena Jankovic, who believes the teenager is a bright prospect in women’s tennis.
The 17-year-old Putintseva took out three seeds en route to the final of the $75,000 ITF event in Dubai – including world No56 Bojana Jovanovski – and pushed No8 seed Kimiko Date-Krumm hard in the final before falling in three sets.
But not before she caught the eye of the public with her never-say-die attitude and explosive tantrums on court.
“She’s a young player, has great potential, she’s going to be a great player in the future,” Jankovic told Sport360° after watching the final as a guest of honour of the tournament.
As a junior, Putintseva made the finals of both the US Open and Australian Open, and the Russian-born Kazakh is now on the brink of breaking the top-100 thanks to her final showing in Dubai along with title wins in Launceston, Australia and Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France earlier this year.
She’s been training at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in Paris for the past three years, and had Swiss legend Martina Hingis in her corner this week in Dubai.
Having ended her season in strong fashion, Putintseva will now play her first ladies main draw at a Grand Slam when she travels to Melbourne next month and the temperamental teenager is looking to cause some damage.
She says: “I’m looking forward to the Australian Open. I’m in the main draw. Hopefully I won’t play with Serena Williams in the first round, but if it happens, I will try to win anyway.”
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old veteran Date-Krumm, who reached No4 in the world back in 1995, had some words of advice for Putintseva.
“We aren’t tall,” Date-Krumm said of herself and Putintseva. “So it’s very difficult because we don’t have big serves like the other tall girls. So she needs a little bit more variation.
“She has a lot of fighting spirit but she doesn’t know how to use it. She needs to learn to sometimes show that emotion, and sometimes she must be more calm, and keep it inside. Not lose the fighting spirit but have some patience. Of course it’s sometimes difficult when you’re losing but she has to learn to do that a little bit.”
Kimiko’s secret
For her part, Date-Krumm was the subject of everyone’s admiration this week as the ageless Japanese proved that experience trumps youth with her dominant display in the Emirates.
“It’s really unbelievable. For me as a player it’s fascinating to see Kimiko, who is 42 years old – the way she looks, the way she moves on the court, it’s better than me and I’m 27,” world No22 Jankovic said.
“I wish I can look like her when I’m 42, so all the compliments to her.”
When asked what her secret was for continuing to compete on the Tour at such an age, Date-Krumm told Sport360°. “Everybody asks me that, but I just try to lead a healthy lifestyle.
"I eat healthy food, I sleep a lot, and enjoy my life. My husband helps me a lot as well. So nothing special, just a simple life.”
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