Roland Garros remains the only Grand Slam yet to fully adopt electronic line calling, still relying on line judges and chair umpires for close decisions. That setup once again came under the spotlight during the match between Yulia Putintseva and Camila Osorio, when a disputed line call pushed the Kazakh player to the edge.

The match had already turned into a scrappy, drawn-out battle, with both players struggling for consistency, but Osorio edged a tight first set 7-5. Things got even more tense in the second-set tiebreak, locked at 4-4, when the chair umpire was forced to step in and review a shot Putintseva believed had landed out.

However, when the umpire took a closer look, she called the ball in, which sent Putintseva into a complete meltdown. The 31-year-old threw her racket on the ground while being in an animated discussion with the umpire, imploring her to change the decision, showing her the mark repeatedly. The crowd started booing, and Putintseva took off her cap in frustration, while trying to silence the crowd.

Interestingly, when a tennis ball hits the clay court at high speed with spin, it compresses and flattens on impact. This often creates an imprint that is slightly larger than the actual point of contact, which can make a shot look “out” even when it has just clipped the line.

And when the ball lands directly on the line, it rarely leaves a clean, circular mark. Instead, it can skid off the raised white tape or loose clay, leaving a smeared trail that appears displaced from where the ball first touched down, adding to the difficulty of making accurate line calls without technology.

However, Osorio won the next point and had a match point, leading 6-5 in the tiebreak. However, Putinsteva showed great grit by winning the next three points to win the second set. After multiple breaks in the third set, it was Putintseva who had a 5-3 advantage, but the Colombian turned the match around in spectacular fashion, winning it 7-5 in the third set.

Infamous for emotional outbursts on court, this is not the first time that Yulia Putintseva has been involved in an on-court controversy.

Yulia Putintseva is known for her on-court outbursts

The French Open isn’t the first time Yulia Putintseva has found herself at the centre of on-court controversy. At the 2024 US Open last, she was involved in an incident during her match against Jasmine Paolini, which once again highlighted her fiery temperament during high-pressure exchanges.

Missing a breakpoint, Putintseva just stood motionless on the court, despite the ball girl passing balls to her. The Kazakh, however, just stood there without acknowledging the ball girl’s presence, letting the balls hit her. Her behavior was criticized by many despite her clarification that she was having an emotional crisis in the match.

Back at the Australian Open this year, Putinsteva was embroiled in another tense face-off, this time with a partisan Turkish crowd supporting Zeynep Sonmez.

The Kazakh made her complaints regarding rowdy behavior by the crowd, who would interrupt her serve. After winning the match in a terrific three-set contest, Putintseva had her moment, mocking the crowd by twerking and later being extremely critical of the disrespect shown by them towards her in the match.

It is not uncommon for tennis players to have emotionally charged outbursts on court, given the demands of the sport and the year-round, hectic schedule.