Footage catches US Open crowd cheer as fan who Alexander Zverev accused of using ‘most famous Hitler phrase’ is escorted out
A US Open fan was kicked out of the Arthur Ashe Stadium after allegedly using a Hitler slur during Alexander Zverev's fourth round win.
The German star beat Jannik Sinner in five sets to book a quarter-final meeting against Carlos Alcaraz, but the match wasn't short of controversy.
It was 2-2 in the fourth set of the match when Zverev went and spoke to the chair umpire to complain about a fan who "said the most famous Hitler phrase to me", before adding: "It's unacceptable".
Taking the matter seriously, James Keothavong turned to the seats behind him and asked the culprit to reveal themselves.
He stated: "Who said that? Who said that? We’re going to get him out."
Keothavong then made an announcement to the crowd, urging them to respect the players, before security were dispatched into the stands to find the person responsible.
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Play continued, however just a few minutes later, the TV cameras cut to the stands once again as a middle-aged man was spoken to by security before being led out.
While it's unconfirmed if the man who was escorted out was responsible for the xenophobic slurs, supporters around him in the stands were clearly pleased with the outcome as they cheered the security team who led the fan out of the arena.
Zverev was quick to speak about the incident following his five-set thriller.
The world number 12 remarked: "He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day. It was ‘Deutschland über alles’ and it was a bit too much.
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"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.”
He added: "It’s his loss, to be honest, to not witness the final two sets of that match."