MIAMI -- Earlier this year, Yulia Putintseva was in Madrid checking into a hotel, the same routine she has gone through for much of her 14-year career. It was a quick, overnight stop in Madrid on her way to California for the BNP Paribas Open.
Putintseva sensed a man behind her as she stood in the queue but assumed he, too, was waiting to check in. When she turned around, her bags were gone. A car had driven up to the front door of the hotel and the man had thrown in her bags and sped off.
She reported the theft to the local police and activated the tracking on the Apple Air Tag that was in her bags. As she told Daria Kasatkina in a recent episode of What The Vlog the police were unable to help. When she tracked the tag down herself, she found it had been ditched by the side of the road.
With nothing but her passport in hand, Putintseva made it to Indian Wells. She scrambled to replace the necessities -- racquets, shoes and clothes. Her lawyer worked quickly to sort out her documents so she could re-enter the U.S., where she is based in Miami.
"When they stole everything from me, I called my old coach and I talked to Matteo [Donati, her new coach]," Putintseva told WTA Insider. "I said from this moment everything should be good now. I got nothing and I cannot get worse. We were laughing and I thought, now I have to play good."
Putintseva was right. Since her bad luck in Spain, the 29-year-old has enjoyed a resurgent stretch of tennis through America.
Ranked No.79 at the start of Indian Wells, she knocked off two Top 20 players in Madison Keys and Ekaterina Alexandrova to make the Round of 16, where she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. This week at the Miami Open she is into the quarterfinals, beating two seeds in Liudmila Samsonova and Anhelina Kalinina, beating the latter 6-4, 7-6(5) on Monday.
It's her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2022 Toronto. And a stark turnaround from where she was trending. She started the year with a middling 4-4 record before three failed qualifying campaigns in Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai.
Putintseva reached a career-high No.27 in 2017 and has been a staple in the Top 50 for much of her career. But after a sub-par 2023 season, she finished the year at No.69, her lowest season-finish since 2015.
Putintseva hired a new coach at the end of the season, former ATP player Matteo Donati. She knew Donati from their junior years.
"I saw on Instagram that he posted that he quit because of injuries," Putintseva said. "I knew him from juniors so I thought, let's give it a try."
Donati has brought the injection of energy and lightness that Putintseva needed. Long known for her fiery on-court personality, Putintseva lost her edge last season. She's found it again this year and she credits her highly-competitive training sessions with Donati. Whether it's cone drills or sprints, Putintseva rediscovered her pugilistic tendencies.
"I'm improving each part of my game, but most importantly I'm getting more confident," Putintseva said. "I'm very happy that Matteo is there and trying to help everywhere. We stay competitive when we practice with each other.
"It's better because sometimes at practice you get bored because you are doing the same thing over and over again, so we're trying to make things interesting."
It's never not interesting with Putintseva. She's been dancing after matches to celebrate her wins and making the crowd laugh even when she's losing. She didn't dance after her win over Kalinina on Monday, but she says she'll be sure to soak in the moment before preparing for her next match against three-time Miami champion Victoria Azarenka.
"Dancing and singing are my thing," Putintseva said. "Here, I'm staying at home so Matteo is driving my car around. I'm always singing so I hope he's enjoying it.
"But if he doesn't, it doesn't change anything -- I'll keep on singing. But sometimes I think he's trying to turn the music down."
