FOLLOWING THE VIRAL US OPEN HAT INCIDENT, POLISH TENNIS PLAYER KAMIL MAJCHRZAK MEETS UP WITH LITTLE FAN
Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak met a young fan after a video appearing to show a man snatching his hat from a boy in the crowd at the US Open went viral. On his official Instagram account, Majchrzak posted two videos of himself shaking hands with two boys and giving them presents, including a cap that looked like it was given to the boy and quickly removed.
The tennis star wrote: "Today after warming up, I had a nice meeting," adding: "Do you recognise [the cap]?"
The viral video, widely reported to be from Majchrzak's match on Thursday, featured the tennis player engaging with fans before giving the cap he had been wearing to a child. Then, before the boy could reach for the cap, a man standing next to him is seen taking it. After that, the youngster is shown begging to get it returned.
Many people criticised the man, who has since been identified by several media sources as Piotr Szczerek, a Polish CEO of a paving company, after versions of the video were shared on social media.
Additionally, Majchrzak uploaded a picture of himself grinning and standing next to the youngster with the cap. "Hello World, together with Brock, we wish you a great day!" the tennis player's caption said.
In men's singles, Majchrzak, 29, is rated 76th in the world. In a second-round contest in Flushing Meadows on Thursday, he overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Russian ninth seed Karen Khachanov, who is also 29. However, he had to quit due to an injury in the opening set of his third-round match against Leandro Riedi of Switzerland on Saturday.
Later on, Majchrzak acknowledged that he had torn an intercostal muscle.