MADRID, 5 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A fan present this Tuesday in the duel between the German Alexander Zverev and the Italian Jannik Sinner, in the round of 16 of the US Open -fourth ‘Grand Slam’ of the season that takes place in New York (United States)-, was expelled from the stadium after denouncing the German who shouted “Hitler’s most famous phrase”.
“No, no, no. He has just said the most famous Hitler phrase in the world. It is unacceptable, it is incredible,” the tennis player told the chair umpire when the match was going 6-4, 3-6, 6- 2 and 2-2, when listening to ‘Deutschland über alles’ (Germany above all) before a service from the German.
The television images confirmed that the fan had pronounced those words, which correspond to the first stanza of the German national anthem that was sung until the end of World War II. In addition, it is prohibited since the Nazis appropriated that motto.
Given Zverev’s complaint, the chair umpire tried to identify the fan who uttered that cry. “Who was the smart one who said the phrase? Put your hand up,” he demanded. Finally, other spectators pointed to the ‘culprit’, who was immediately expelled by the security of the venue.
“He started singing Hitler’s anthem. It was too much. As a German, I’m not proud of that story and I don’t consider it right to do that. I was sitting in the front row, so a lot of people heard it. If I hadn’t reacted, it would have been wrong. for my part”, said Zverev after the match, when he acknowledged that he “loves it when the fans are active” and “make noise”, but considered that this was “too much”.