Alexander Zverev’s fourth-round win over Jannik Sinner at the US Open was marred by a fan shouting a ‘famous Hitler phrase’ before he was kicked out by security. Zverev managed to set up a quarter-final meeting with Carlos Alcaraz by seeing off the challenge posed by Sinner, who took the match to five sets but ultimately came up short.
The pair were embroiled in the heat of battle in New York when things took an unsavoury turn due to a comment made from the stands in the seconds before a point. Zverev made a complaint to the umpire that somebody had said ‘the most famous Hitler phrase’ to him and branded it ‘unacceptable’.
The umpire responded by turning his chair to face the courtside seats at the Arthur Ashe Stadium before asking the culprit to identify himself, but nobody owned up. He then made an announcement to the whole crowd, urging them to respect the players.
Members of security staff went on to enter the crowd in a bid to resolve the situation by identifying and removing the offender from the stadium. In a video clip shared online, they were seen talking to a middle-aged man in the stands before escorting him out of the arena.
It remained unclear exactly what was said, or if the man spotted leaving the stadium was indeed responsible for making the alleged slur. Play then continued before Zverev reached his 10th major quarter-final by securing a five-set victory over Sinner in four hours and 40 minutes.
Zverev won the first set before Sinner levelled things up in the second, although his injury struggles allowed his German opponent to prevail in the third. Sinner fought back to force a decisive set by claiming the fourth but was unable to see the job through, with Zverev performing well under pressure to emerge victorious.
The alleged slur from the stands marked the latest unsavoury crowd incident at the US Open, just days after Daniil Medvedev blasted a fan for making too much noise during his third-round victory over Sebastian Baez. He singled out the culprit in his post-match interview, saying: “Thanks to all those who didn’t yell between my first and second serve.
“However, there was a spectator, maybe he has a girlfriend or a wife who I don’t know how she will sleep. He was particularly excited and will spend the night saying ‘vamos, vamos, vamos’ without ever stopping. I’m sorry for him.”
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