Hitler scandal at US Open: fan thrown out of stadium

Tennis star Alexander Zverev was confronted with a severe verbal derailment by a spectator in his round of 16 match at the US Open against Jannik Sinner (ITA). In the middle of the fourth set, the German was interrupted by an interjection that is known from the darkest time in history.

Zverev interrupted the match and complained to the referee. “He said the worst Hitler sentence there is to me. That’s unacceptable, that’s incredible,” Zverev complained. Referee James Keothavong had the man identified in the lower tier of Arthur Ashe Stadium during the ensuing break, with other spectators pointing in his direction. When the score was 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2, 3: 2, the spectators left the stands accompanied by security forces. The man was taken out of the stadium at the next change of sides.

Zverev after the game: “He started singing the Hitler anthem, ?Germany, Germany over everything? That was too much of a good thing. I love it when fans are loud and emotional. But you have to keep respect. Me “I’m German and we’re not proud of that part of our story. He was sitting in one of the front rows and a lot of people heard that. I had to do something about it.”

However, what Zverev calls the “Hitler anthem” is far older than the National Socialist dictatorship. Background: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the song of the Germans on August 26, 1841 on Helgoland. The third stanza “Unity and Justice and Freedom” is now the national anthem of the Germans. The first verse, which the audience intoned, is still officially part of the Deutschland-Lied, but has not been sung since the end of the Second World War and is even banned on official occasions in Germany. Because: Nazi troops marched into many European countries to the tune of “Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles”. At that time, only this verse of the song was sung, in combination with the Horst Wessel song (battle song of the SA).

Zverev was not deterred by the scandalous incident and kept the upper hand in a thrilling match against Sinner. After 4:41 hours, the 2020 US Open finalist (loss to Dominic Thiem) prevailed 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3 and now meets Carlos Alcaraz (SPA) .