German Player Alexander Zverev Says U.S. Open Fan Sang 'Famous Hitler Phrase.' Penalty Is Swift.

A fan was ejected from a U.S. Open tennis match  early Tuesday morning after German player Alexander Zverev complained the man used language from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.

Zverev, the No. 12 seed, was serving at 2-2 in the fourth set of his match against No. 6 Jannik Sinner when he suddenly went to chair umpire James Keothavong and pointed toward the fan, who was sitting in a section behind the umpire.

“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told Keothavong. “It’s not acceptable.”

Keothavong turned backward and asked the fan to identify himself, then asked fans to be respectful to both players. Then, during the changeover shortly after Zverev held serve, the fan was identified by spectators seated near him, and he was removed by security.

“A disparaging remark was directed toward Alexander Zverev,” U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said, “The fan was identified and escorted from the stadium.” 

Zverev said after the match that he’s had fans make derogatory comments before, but not involving Hitler.

“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,” Zverev said.