A fan was ejected from the US Open for allegedly yelling out the “most famous Hitler phrase there is” during Alexander Zverev’s Round of 16 match with Jannik Sinner on Monday night.
During the fourth set of Zverev’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sinner, Zverev suddenly stopped play and walked up to the chair official while pointing behind them into the stands.
“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told the official. “This is unacceptable. This is unbelievable.”
The official then started yelling at the crowd behind him, trying to figure out who said it.
Zverev and Sinner quickly resumed play, and Zverev won the game to take a 3-2 lead in the set. Then during the break, a group of security walked up to a man who was sitting about 10 rows back at Arthur Ashe Stadium and escorted him out of the venue.
It’s unclear what the fan in question said specifically.
Zverev, who is from Hamburg, Germany, took an early lead on Monday night after flying through a dominant third set, where he won four straight games to close out the 6-2 win. He was leading when the fan incident happened in the fourth set, too, though Sinner rallied and won three straight games to force a fifth set.
While he looked like he was in pain during the fourth set, Zverev came out hot in the final set and rolled into the quarterfinals. He survived a ridiculous third game that seemed to go on forever to take a 3-0 lead, and then he held on the rest of the way to take the the 6-3 win.
The match, which ended just before 1:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday, was the longest of the US Open so far.
Zverev will now advance to the quarterfinals and take on top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets in his match earlier on Monday. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will square off in the other quarterfinals match on this side of the bracket.
