The Polish CEO who took tennis player Kamil Majchrzak's hat from a young fan at the US Open has apologised on social media and says he has returned it.
Piotr Szczerek, founder of paving company Drog-Bruk, posted an apology on social media after a video of the incident went viral over the weekend.
The broadcast showed Szczerek grabbing the cap as Majchrzak handed it to a young boy in the stands after a second-round upset win over ninth seed Karen Khachanov.
Szczerek, who is from Poland, wrote on Facebook that he made a mistake thinking Majchrzak was giving him the hat for his sons, who had asked earlier for an autograph.
"I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgement and hurtful actions," he wrote.
"It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan. I became caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory.
"Regardless of what I believed was happening, the actions I took hurt the young boy and disappointed the fans.
"I have sent the hat back to the boy and extended my sincere apologies to his family. I hope, at least to a small extent, I was able to repair the harm I caused."
Just before the incident, Majchrzak shook hands with Szczerek in the stands and exchanged some words.
The world number 76 then removed his black cap and handed it to the boy, who looked shocked and overjoyed as he reached for it, only for Szczerek to rip it away from him.
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