A tennis fan has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after snatching a cap that was meant for a young boy at the US Open on Saturday (AEST).
Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak had just won the match of his life against No.9 seed Karen Khachanov, coming back from two sets down to pull off the extraordinary 2-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 7-6(5) victory.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Grown man snatches cap from young boy.
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After toiling away for four and a half hours on the court, you could forgive Majchrzak for immediately leaving the court to begin his recovery.
But the world No.76 then spent plenty of time signing autographs for the fans, but that’s when the drama unfolded.
One young boy was waiting patiently for an autograph on his giant tennis ball when Majchrzak offered the cap of his head instead.
The boy went to take it but at the same time, an older man reached over and snatched it away.
The cap was snatched out of the boy’s grasp. Credit: X He quickly stuffed it in the bag of the woman he was with and appeared to be laughing.
The boy, meanwhile, could be heard yelling, “What are you doing?”
He then pleaded with the adults to give him the cap, but they just carried on before giving the boy a pen.
A clip of the incident quickly went viral on social media with nearly everyone slamming the behaviour of the adults.
Majchrzak, who was unaware what happened to the cap, posted on social media asking his fans to find the young boy.
“After the match, I didn’t record that my cap didn’t get to the boy,” he posted, along with screenshots of the boy.
“Hey, guys, could you help me find the kid from my match. If it’s you (or your parents see this), please send me a DM.”
It only took an hour for the boy to be found.
“I am impressed by the power of the internet. We got it. All good now,” Majchrzak wrote.
While the story had a happy ending for the young boy, the adult fan was slammed.
“What a terrible man, to snatch it right out of a child’s hand like that,” one fan said.
“He was so rude, how can someone do this to a little boy,” another said.
“These people are disgusting, grown ass man taking something from a kid,” another said.
“Classless behaviour,” another said.
“Shameful act,” another added.
Majchrzak will now play Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi in the third round before a potential showdown with Aussie Alex de Minaur in the last 16.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic stayed in the hunt for a record 25th grand slam trophy by quickly recovering from a lower back problem to beat unseeded Briton Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-7 (7-4) 6-2 6-3 and reach the fourth round.
The 38-year-old’s battling victory under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium made him the oldest man to reach the last 16 at Flushing Meadows since American Jimmy Connors managed the feat at the same age in 1991.
Already the holder of the most grand slam titles (24) and match wins (395), Djokovic reached another milestone by surpassing Swiss maestro Roger Federer to become the man with the most hardcourt victories at the majors with his 192nd win.
The four-times New York winner also improved his record against Norrie to 7-0.
“I guess coming into the match, any match, you really want to win in straight sets without any drama and just ease through, but that’s not possible,” said Djokovic, who is playing in his first event since losing to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon.
“My team wants me to suffer on the court so I can get some more minutes spent in match play. It’s good that I get tested. I hadn’t played any matches since Wimbledon and it’s been for us quite a long time, five to six weeks.
“I’m still trying to find my groove and my rhythm on court,” added the Serb, who said Friday’s performance was an improvement on his first two matches.
“I think it was probably the best serving performance of the tournament.
Djokovic then began to feel the effects of a back problem after going up 5-4 and received treatment off the court before returning to serve out the opening set.
He called for more medical attention three games into the next set and his first-serve speed briefly dipped following that break in play.
However, he started to fire on all cylinders again before advancing.
Earlier, Carlos Alcaraz marched on at Flushing Meadows, insisting there was no need for concern after he needed treatment on his right knee during an otherwise trouble-free demolition of Italian Luciano Darderi.
After having his serve broken for the first time and also requiring the physio to treat him near the end of the second set, it felt like perhaps this could be the first wobble for the stellar Spaniard at this year’s New York major.
Yet it really didn’t look that way as the 22-year-old pummelled Darderi 6-2 6-4 6-0 to waltz into the fourth round while still not having dropped a set so far.
And he was quick to assure everyone after his one-hour 44-minute victory that there was nothing to worry about after he had taken a medical timeout at 5-4 in the second set following a nervous moment when he’d jolted his knee while landing awkwardly off a serve.
“I’m feeling good,” he told the Arthur Ashe Stadium fans after treating them to 31 spectacular winners. “It was just a precaution that I asked for the physio.
“When he broke my serve (with Alcaraz leading 4-1 in the second set) in the last point I felt something in the knee, but after five or six points it was gone. I just asked the physio to take care of the knee, so I had to be feeling good.”
So good indeed that he reeled off the last seven games after the time-out to set up a fourth-round clash with Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who beat his compatriot, Daniil Medvedev’s conqueror Benjamin Bonzi 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-2.
In other matches, fourth-seed Taylor Fritz beat Jerome Kym 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (11-9) 6-4 6-4 as fellow Americans Frances Tiafoe and Bryan Shelton (retired) were ousted.
Tiafoe, the No.17 seed was beaten 6-4 6-3 7-6 (9-7) by Jan-Lennard Struff while No.6 Shelton injured his shoulder against Adrian Mannarino and retired at two sets all.
There were also straight-sets wins for No.20 Jiri Lehecka and No.21 Tomas Machac over Raphael Collignon and Ugo Blanchet respectively.
– With AAP