A fan was ejected from a the U.S. Open tennis match Tuesday morning after German player Alexander Zverev complained the man used Nazi language associated with Hitler's regime.
Zverev was serving in the fourth set of his match against Jannik Sinner when he went to the chair umpire and pointed toward a fan in the stands.
"He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world," Zverev told chair umpire James Keothavong. according to ESPN. "It's not acceptable."
Keothavong turned around and asked the fan to identify himself and then asked that fans be respectful to both players. The was eventually identified by those seated near him, and he was removed.
"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 said he'd had fans make derogatory comments in the past, but never involving Hitler.
"He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day," Zverev explained. "It was 'Deutschland ĂĽber 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."
