A spectator was ejected from a U.S. Open tennis match early Tuesday morning after Alexander Zverev, who is German, complained that the man was singing “the anthem of Hitler from back in the day.”
Zverev, the No. 12 seed, was serving in the fourth set of his match against No. 6 Jannik Sinner when he suddenly approached chair umpire James Keothavong and pointed toward a fan sitting in a section behind the umpire.
“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told Keothavong. “It’s not acceptable.”
Keothavong asked the fan to identify himself and then asked nearby spectators to show respect to both players. Zverev held serve and, during the changeover, other spectators identified the fan, who was removed by security. Later, he revealed what that phrase was.
“He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day,” Zverev told reporters after the lengthy match concluded at 1:45 a.m. Eastern. “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.”
The match continued, and the ending was terrific. Both players were struggling in the heat and humidity and, although Zverev lost that set, he went on to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory in a match that lasted 4 hours 41 minutes.
Advertisement
“It’s his loss, to be honest,” Zverev said of the fan, “to not witness the final two sets of that match.”
Video of Zverev telling the umpire that a fan just yelled “the most famous Hitler phrase” in his match against Jannik Sinner.
The last thing you’d think to hear in the middle of a tennis match.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 5, 2023Sinner experienced leg cramps in the second and third sets but was able to continue, although Zverev had 14 winners to Sinner’s seven in the final set. Zverev, who missed the second half of last year’s U.S. Open with an ankle injury, advanced to a quarterfinal Wednesday against Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion and top seed.
“I guess I can say I’m back, right?” Zverev said in an interview on the court, referring to the ankle injury he suffered last year.
“This is what I live for. This is what I absolutely love to do,” he said. “I wish I could have played a little bit shorter, that’s for sure, but last year when I wasn’t able to play, these were exactly the moments I missed. Until 1:30 a.m. in front of a packed crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium — there’s nothing better.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeAcHyYaGduZ5GhsrmtzZ2cq2Wqq7KzsdVmrKxln6Wyr3nHoqulnaJk