The man who went viral for snatching Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak\u2019s game-worn hat away from a child at the U.S. Open has apologized for his \u201cextremely poor judgment and hurtful actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piotr Szczerek, who runs the Polish paving company Drogbruk, said he believed Majchrzak was handing him the hat for his sons when he grabbed it at the same moment a little boy reached for it. Szczerek showed the hat to his sons before putting it in a bag, and the boy asked, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Video of the incident circulated online, sparking widespread criticism of Szczerek\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself,\u201d Szczerek said in a statement on social media<\/a>. \u201d 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 \u2026 Regardless of what I believed was happening, the actions I took hurt the young boy and disappointed the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Szczerek said he apologized to the boy and his family and sent him the hat.<\/p>\n Try watching this without cringing pic.twitter.com\/5uwmIAmOXN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The hat-snatching incident happened after Majchrzak beat Russian player Karen Khachanov in the second round Thursday. Majchrzak didn\u2019t notice Szczerek intercepting his hat in the moment, but he learned about it later and asked social media to help him find the fan.<\/p>\n Majchrzak\u2019s Instagram followers came through, and he met up with the young fan, named Brock, after his warm-up Saturday. Majchrzak gave Brock a new hat and a swag bag and posted photos of them together on his Instagram story.<\/p>\n \u201cHello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!\u201d Majchrzak captioned one of the photos.<\/p>\n Kamil Majchrzak meeting the young boy who had the hat taken from him the other day at the US Open. <\/p>\n A happy ending\u2026 this is what it\u2019s all about. <\/p>\n Protect this man at all costs. \ud83e\udd79 pic.twitter.com\/EAaJVltyM6<\/a><\/p>\n