A spectator was kicked out of a US Open tennis tournament early on Tuesday after German player Alexander Zverev said the spectator used Nazi-era slang.
When Zverev, the No. 12 seed, unexpectedly approached chair umpire James Keothavong and pointed toward the fan who was seated in a section behind the umpire, they were serving at 2-2 in the fourth set of their match against the No. 6 Jannik Sinner.
“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told Keothavong. “It’s not acceptable.”
Turning around, Keothavong asked the fan to identify himself before requesting that spectators show both players respect. The fan was recognized by those sat close to him during the changeover just after Zverev held serve, and security removed him.
“A disparaging remark was directed toward Alexander Zverev,” United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said. “The fan was identified and escorted from the stadium.”
Zverev claimed that while he has received snide remarks from supporters in the past after the game, none of them involved Hitler.
“He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day,” Zverev explained. “It was ‘Deutschland über alles’ and it was a bit too much.
“I think he was getting involved in the match for a long time, though. I don’t mind it. I love when fans are loud. I love when fans are emotional. But I think me being German and not really proud of that history, it’s not really a great thing to do, and I think him sitting in one of the front rows, I think a lot of people heard it. So if I just don’t react, I think it’s bad from my side.”
Zverev went on to lose that set when he started to struggle in the hot weather After Sinner suffered from severe cramping in the third set. The 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 match, which lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes, was finally won by Zverev by winning the fifth set. In the quarterfinals, he will next face Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion.
Moving past the fan’s insult, according to Zverev, wasn’t difficult.
“It’s his loss, to be honest, to not witness the final two sets of that match,” Zverev said.
