Early Tuesday morning at the U.S. Open, a man in the stands was ejected after German star Alexander Zverev said someone in the crowd was yelling “the most famous Hitler phrase there is.”
Zverev, who ultimately won the match, was battling Jannik Sinner in the fourth set of the quarterfinal match with the score tied at two games apiece when he approached umpire James Keothavong to protest, “He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is. He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world. It’s unacceptable. This is unbelievable.”
Video of Zverev telling the umpire someone in the crowd shouted the “most famous Hitler phrase in history” in match vs. Sinner #USOpen pic.twitter.com/XlWw7ktqjP
— Lawrence (@dutyfreechamp) September 5, 2023
The prompted Keothavong to face the crowd behind him and ask who had yelled the remark, calling out, “Put your hands up. Who said that? … We’re gonna get him out.” He followed by asking the crowd to show respect for the players.
Security members went into the stands to find out who made the offensive remark. Several minutes later, cameras showed them speaking to a middle-aged man, then escorting him out of the stadium amid cheers and boos.
They just escorted someone out. Unclear if this was the person who shouted “the most famous Hitler phrase” before #USOpen2023 #zverev #sinner pic.twitter.com/wbbUWAy2Vi
— Nicole Michelle (@pinkycupcake128) September 5, 2023
After the five-set match was over, Zverev iterated what had happened. “He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day,” he said. “It was ‘Deutschland über 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.”
“It’s his loss, to be honest, to not witness the final two sets of that match,” he concluded.
“There are some fans this late at night @usopen that are not good!” ESPN analyst Rennae Stubbs tweeted. “I ❤️ the fans but at this point there are some bad characters. I had a drink thrown on me last night by a drunk fan who was fighting with her boyfriend. Now we got someone yelling Hitler slurs! Wtf? Come on peeps.”
There are some fans this late at night @usopen that are not good! I ❤️ the fans but at this point there are some bad characters. I had a drink thrown on me last night by a drunk fan who was fighting with her boyfriend. Now we got someone yelling Hitler slurs! Wtf? Come on peeps.
— Rennae Stubbs 🟦👍🏼 (@rennaestubbs) September 5, 2023
US Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier later confirmed a “disparaging remark was directed toward Alexander Zverev.”
“Deutschland über alles” is the first stanza of the song “Deutschlandlied,” whose music came from the pen of the famed composer Joseph Haydn in 1797 for the birthday of Francis II, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Lyrics were added by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841.
But during the Nazi era, the Nazis used only the first stanza, then followed it with the Nazi stormtrooper “Horst Wessel Song.” At the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Hitler and his minions walked into the stadium as Germans sang “Deutschland über alles,” thus causing the song to be identified with the Nazi regime.