A spectator was expelled from a US Open tennis tournament early Tuesday morning after German player Alexander Zverev reported that the guy used Nazi-era rhetoric.
The No. 12 seed, Alexander Zverev, was serving at 2-2 in the fourth set of his match against No. 6 Jannik Sinner when he abruptly rushed to chair umpire James Keothavong and pointed to a spectator seated in a section behind the umpire.
“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev said to Keothavong. “It’s simply not acceptable.”
Keothavong stepped aside and requested the fan to identify himself before requesting that supporters be polite to both players. The fan was spotted by others sat near him during the changeover immediately after Zverev held serve, and he was taken by security.
“A disparaging remark was directed towards Alexander Zverev,” stated Chris Widmaier, spokesperson for the United States Tennis Association. “The fan was identified and escorted away from the stadium.”
After the match, Zverev said that he has previously received unpleasant remarks from supporters, but none mentioning Hitler.
“He started singing Hitler’s anthem from back then,” Zverev added. “It was ‘Deutschland over everything,’ and it was a little much.”
“I believe he was involved in the match for quite some time.” It doesn’t bother me. I like it when supporters get boisterous. I like it when fans are moved. But I believe it’s not a good idea for me to be German and not be proud of my heritage, and I think him being in one of the front rows, a lot of people heard it. So I believe it’s horrible from my end if I simply don’t respond.”
After Sinner had cramped severely in the third set, Zverev dropped that set as he struggled with the humid circumstances. However, Zverev came back to win the fifth set, completing the 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 battle that lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes at about 1:40 a.m. In the quarterfinals, he will face reigning US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev said that it was not difficult to move on from the fan’s statement.
“To be honest, it’s his loss not to see the final two sets of that match,” Zverev remarked.
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