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.
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.”
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“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.
"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"
sounds like the guy had been cheering loudly in support of Zverev the whole match, and this was after a couple of hours and the guy legitimately just got really carried away shouting some stupid shit.. doesn't sound like the fan was seriously supporting Hitler or anything.. apparently just a loud moron who needed some attention..
I don’t think that context excuses nearly as much as you think. At no point in my life have I been drunk or giddy enough to shout God Save the Queen or recite some confederate anthem. And I’ve been damn drunk before.
Idk. I don't think this particular phrase would even enter my mind as something to chant, and I am German. That's not the first time he chanted that, I'm sure. It is taboo for sure, but it's not in the cultural consciousness a lot, there's more "popular" nazi slogans. You'd either have to search your brain for something specifically Hitler related or be very familiar with the old anthem (aka singing it a lot aka being a neonazi).
I do not agree that this is the "most" Hitler thing though. There are so much more famous things, hut they wouldn't fit the situation though.
It was probably an American fan(it is the US Open) who thinks that's still the German national anthem... Still good on the player for shutting that shit down, it's a misunderstanding that doesn't need to be repeated.
Idk, maybe. I listened to the audio, and to me, it did sound like someone who speaks German well. The pronounciations and emphasis sounded very natural. And fans do travel for events like these. Of course it could be an American, but somehow I still doubt it. Is this phrase known in the US?
Yeah, but would you (I assume american) even know enough words to so clearly repeat the opening words? Idk. It's just not something you'd come across often even in Germany outside of history class, german class, or neonazi circles. I assume even less so for non Germany. So that this would be so top of mind for someone to just slip out is just such a strange and unlikely thought to me.
Idk. The phrase is bad, but it wouldn't come up in my top 10 of nazi phrases, so for it to just slip out, I have to to assume that person frequently uses nazi phrases.