With the majority of the crowd against her, Yulia Putintseva turned her attention to a song about rabbits.
Her Australian Open opponent, Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez, was backed by a raucous following in Melbourne after forcing a deciding set in their tight third-round match.
So Putintseva, in an attempt to block it all out, repeated the words of a song from an old Russian movie in her head, rather than her usual go-to artist Taylor Swift.
She admitted that was not her usual coping mechanism – but it proved a necessary distraction as she came through to win 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in Melbourne.
After completing victory, Putintseva responded to the jeers that came her way by cupping one ear and blowing kisses to the crowd, before provocatively dancing her way off the court.
The 31-year-old, booed as she celebrated her victory and throughout her post-match interview, said: “I think there was a lot of disrespectful moments. They were screaming between my first and second serve really loud to make me make a mistake.
“On a big point, a guy started coughing for my shot. I was like, ‘OK, I’m not going to lose’.
“Some people have an education of tennis and, unfortunately, some of them do not.”
She joked: “I’m very happy that I kept my calm, because Yulia last year would probably throw something at them at some moment.”
