Moments after the tennis player Kamil Majchrzak celebrated the biggest win of his career at the US Open last week, he handed his cap to a beaming young boy. What happened next sparked tears, outrage, a detective hunt across social media and, finally, a grovelling apology.
It came from Piotr Szczerek, a millionaire businessman from Poland, who had snatched the cap out of the boy’s hand and stuffed it into his bag. Videos of the incident showed the youngster looking deeply upset and asking: “What are you doing?” while Majchrzak – who was oblivious to the situation after his five-set victory against the ninth seed, Karen Khachanov – walked away.
In a post on his Facebook page on Monday, Szczerek pleaded for forgiveness and said that he had given the hat back. “Due to the situation that occurred during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologise to the injured boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself,” he wrote.
“I made a grave mistake. In the midst of emotion, amidst the crowd’s celebration after the victory, I was convinced that the tennis player was passing the cap to me – for my sons, who had previously asked for autographs. This mistaken belief caused me to instinctively reach out.
”Today I know that I did something that looked like I deliberately took a souvenir from a child. It wasn’t my intention, but that doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.
“The cap was given to the boy, and an apology is due to the family. I hope that I have at least partially repaired the harm.”
The apology came after Majchrzak, the world No 76, turned to social media to track the young fan down. On Saturday, Majchrzak appeared in an Instagram post shaking hands with the boy, named only as Brock, who had a bag of merchandise with him. Majchrzak’s caption read: “Hello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!”
Meanwhile, in his Facebook post, Szczerek, who is said to have donated money to Polish tennis in the past, admitted the incident had given him a lesson in humility. “For years, my wife and I have been engaged in helping children and young athletes, but this situation has shown I think that one moment of disregard can ruin years of work and support.
“It hurts for me, but a needed lesson in humility. I believe that only through actions can rebuild what has been lost trust. Again, I’m sorry to anyone I disappointed. Please understand – for my family’s sake – I decided to turn off comments on this post.”
It is not the first time that a dispute among fans has made headline news and controversy. Last year when the Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani became the first player to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season, there was a fight for the ball in the stands.
While the ball was later sold at auction for $3.4m, who actually caught the ball remains the subject of ongoing civil litigation. One spectator, Max Matus, said he “successfully grabbed” the ball in his left hand before “a muscular, older man” then trapped his arm “in between his legs and wrangled the 50/50 Ball out of Max’s left hand”.
Another fan, Joseph Davidov, has also filed a suit claiming he was the rightful owner. However, a third man, Christian Zacek, actually walked out of Miami’s LoanDepot Park with the ball after gaining possession in the stands.
