Majchrzak saves the day after young fan’s hat is stolen by CEO

The tennis world has been up in arms after a grown man snatched Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak’s match-worn hat from a young fan at the US Open on Saturday (AEST).

After the 29-year-old pulled off one of the biggest upsets of this year’s US Open by beating No. 9 seed* Karen Khachanov, Majchrzak spent plenty of time signing merchandise* for eager fans.

One young boy was very keen to get a signature from the tennis star, handing over a giant ball for him to sign.

Impressed by his enthusiasm and energy, Majchrzak took off his hat to hand to the boy as he continued down the line of fans.

However, the adult next to him snatched the hat away and quickly shoved it in his wife’s bag.

“What are you doing?” the boy yelled at the man.

The man seemed to ignore the child, while Majchrzak continued signing autographs, not noticing what had happened.

The child could be seen pleading with the couple to give him the hat back, but they just nervously laughed before the man handed him a pen.

The NY Post later identified the hat-snatcher as allegedly* being Polish millionaire and CEO of paving company Drogbruk, Piotr Szczerek.

The businessman has since taken down his social media accounts after the incident sparked widespread fury, media outlet MARCA reports.

Szczerek’s countrymen swiftly blasted him on Polish job search site Gowork.pl as a “sack of garbage,” “common thief,” “primitive* scammer,” and a “shameful jerk.”

“Only an ordinary* idiot and a jerk could snatch a hat from a child’s hands,” wrote one Gowork.pl user.

“You can’t buy class,” offered another critic.

Szczerek co-founded his paving company in 1999 with his wife, Anna, and it’s been described as an industry leader, according to a Polish tennis magazine.

He also reportedly sponsors local sports programs and supports Polish tennis players, including Polish doubles player Piotr Matuszewski.

The NY Post reported Szczerek could not be reached for comment, and emails sent to his company were not immediately returned.

After footage of the incident circulated on social media, Majchrzak addressed the situation on Saturday, asking fans to help him make things right again.

“After the match, I didn’t record that my cap didn’t get to the boy,” the 29-year-old tennis star posted on Instagram, with screenshots of the heartbroken young fan.

“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*.”

The boy was found only an hour later, with the Polish star admitting he was “impressed by the power of the internet.”

And so the upsetting theft had a happy ending, after Majchrzak then tracked down the boy and gave him a signed cap, along with other keepsakes.

A video posted to Majchrzak’s Instagram shows him reuniting with the overjoyed young fan, called Brock, showering him with gifts, snapping photos, and warmly chatting with him and his family.

“Today after warm up, I had a nice meeting,” the tennis star wrote with a hands up emoji, followed by, “Do you recognise?” and a hat emoji.

The tennis world was quick to call out the incident on social media, with the hat-snatcher’s behaviour described as “disgusting” by viewers.

“Stealing from a child is completely disgusting,” one Reddit user wrote.

“I’m glad it was caught on camera. Hope he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame.”

Unfortunately for Majchrzak, his US Open campaign ended on Sunday AEST when he was forced to retire* hurt against Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi in their third round match. Reidi was leading 5-3 in the first set.

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GLOSSARY

• seed: awarded to players with the highest rankings so that the best of the best can’t meet until the later rounds of the competition
• merchandise: products related to a sport, brand, music or similar
• allegedly: according to what has been claimed
• primitive: basic, or early in the evolutionary stage of humans, meant as an insult
• ordinary: the opposite of special, meant in this instance as an insult
• DM: Direct Message
• retire: left the competition early due to injury

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QUICK QUIZ
1. Why did Kamil Majchrzak give the young fan, Brock, his hat after his match against Karen Khachanov?
2. What did the thieving man give Brock when he asked for his hat back?
3. How did Majchrzak find Brock after the match?
4. What did he give Brock to make him feel better after his hat was stolen?
5. How did Majchrzak’s US Open campaign come to an end?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Business repercussions
Since the video of this Polish businessman has gone viral, with his name and company information associated with this questionable act of honesty, what repercussions might this have for his paving company?

Write a public relations statement that you think Piotr Szczerek should put out on social media to minimise the harm of his own and his company’s reputation

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Social media can be used for good, not just all evil. Like this story of tracking down this young boy within an hour, what other stories have you heard of or know about where social media has played a part in helping people find something? Discuss your experiences with a classmate.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum Links: English, Digital Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.