‘I’ve made a severe mistake,’ Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek mentioned.
A Polish businessman who appeared to grab a match-worn hat being handed to a younger boy through the U.S. Open mentioned he made a “severe mistake” and apologized.
The footage of Piotr Szczerek, CEO of the Polish paving stone firm Drogbruk, taking the cap went viral throughout information channels and social media, diverting some consideration from Kamil Majchrzak’s thrilling five-set upset towards Russia’s Karen Khachanov on Aug. 28.
The hat was handed to the boy, who was additionally holding out a supersized tennis ball for the participant to signal. Earlier than the boy might react to take the cap, Szcerek snatched it from the participant’s outstretched hand.
Szczerek mentioned he regretted his “extraordinarily poor judgment” and took full accountability for his “hurtful actions.”
Majchrzak, who represents Poland, won the second spherical match 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6.
Szcerek mentioned that he “turned caught up within the warmth of the second” and “believed Majchrzak was handing a hat to me to present to my sons, who had beforehand requested for autographs.”
“In reference to the incident that occurred throughout Kamill Majchrzak’s match on the US Open, I want to unequivocally apologize to the younger boy, his household, all of the followers, and the participant himself,” Szczerek said in a social media submit.
“I’ve made a severe mistake,” Szczerek said in one other submit.
After the footage went viral, and fabricated statements attributed to him and his spouse circulated on the web, his fellow Poles went on a Polish job itemizing web site to criticize him for his actions.
“No matter what I believed was occurring, the actions I took damage the younger boy and disenchanted the followers,” he mentioned. “I’ve despatched the hat again to the boy and prolonged my honest apologies to his household. I hope, at the very least to a small extent, I used to be in a position to restore the hurt I induced.”
Szcerek mentioned in his assertion that he had not issued some other feedback concerning the incident on social media or elsewhere after experiences circulated of remarks falsely attributed to him claiming he had filed a lawsuit.
“We didn’t rent any regulation agency relating to this matter. All statements showing on-line accredited to us had been false and weren’t authored by us or our representatives,” Szczerek mentioned.
“This incident has proven me {that a} second of inattention can undo years of labor and help. It’s a painful however needed lesson in humility. Going ahead, I’ll interact much more actively in initiatives that help kids and youth, and I’ll take actions towards violence and hate. I consider that solely by means of actions can I rebuild the belief I’ve misplaced.”
After the incident, Majchrzak was in a position to observe down the boy and meet him. Majchrzak instructed media shops that the state of affairs was attributable to “some type of confusion.”
Majchrzak was pressured to retire within the fourth set of his third-round match towards Leandro Riedi of Switzerland on Aug. 30 attributable to an undisclosed damage, ending his run within the match.
His greatest Grand Slam efficiency got here earlier in 2025 at Wimbledon, the place the 29-year-old reached the fourth spherical.
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