A fan was ejected from his seat during the US Open fourth-round match between Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows on Monday night for something he allegedly said.
Zverev was down 0-15 and getting ready to serve at 2-2 in the fourth set when he paused and approached chair umpire James Keothavong. Zverev, who is from Germany, claimed to have heard a Hitler remark from a fan in the crowd.
Video of Zverev telling the umpire someone in the crowd shouted the “most famous Hitler phrase in history” in match vs. Sinner #USOpen pic.twitter.com/XlWw7ktqjP
— spotcheck billy (@dutyfreechamp) September 5, 2023
“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase that there is in this world,” Zverev told Keothavong. “It’s not acceptable. This is unbelievable.”
Keothavong turned around immediately and started interrogating the fans in the crowd, demanding to know who said the alleged remark.
Eventually, the fan who said the alleged remark was identified and told to leave his seat.
The fan who Zverev claimed uttered a phrase about Hitler has been removed. @bgtennisnation helped identify him pic.twitter.com/fgBN7mu4tG
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) September 5, 2023
Zverev did not explicitly state what he heard the fan say. It’s possible he heard the fan say something like “Heil Hitler,” which is the greeting former Germany leader Adolf Hitler demanded people use during the Nazi reign. As a German, Zverev is extremely sensitive to the holocaust and atrocities perpetrated by Hitler, and did not want a fan to get away with saying that. Zverev also did not want to be caught repeating the phrase himself, and deferred to the umpire to handle matters.
Zverev was leading two sets to one at that point in the match.
