Polish CEO apologizes for snatching Kamil Majchrzak’s hat away from child at U.S. Open

The man who went viral for snatching Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak’s game-worn hat away from a child at the U.S. Open has apologized for his “extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions.”

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, “What are you doing?”

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Video of the incident circulated online, sparking widespread criticism of Szczerek’s behavior.

“I would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself,” Szczerek said in a statement on social media. ” 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.”

Szczerek said he apologized to the boy and his family and sent him the hat.

Try watching this without cringing pic.twitter.com/5uwmIAmOXN — Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 29, 2025

The hat-snatching incident happened after Majchrzak beat Russian player Karen Khachanov in the second round Thursday. Majchrzak didn’t notice Szczerek intercepting his hat in the moment, but he learned about it later and asked social media to help him find the fan.

Majchrzak’s 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.

“Hello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!” Majchrzak captioned one of the photos.

Kamil Majchrzak meeting the young boy who had the hat taken from him the other day at the US Open. A happy ending… this is what it’s all about. Protect this man at all costs. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/EAaJVltyM6 — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 30, 2025

Later in the day, Majchrzak retired from this third-round match against Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi due to injury.

A complex situation for players: ‘I try to be fair’

The incident cast a spotlight on the situation players find themselves in when signing for fans after matches. Fans crowd the rail, jockeying for position and doing their best to draw attention. The players, who just finished playing a match, are trying to honor the wishes of fans while also moving toward the locker room.

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Iga Świątek, the U.S. Open’s No. 2 seed who advanced to the quarterfinals Monday, said sometimes she’ll be in an awkward situation where “seven people reach out for one thing.” She doesn’t have a set method for choosing a fan to give some gear.

“I pick a person kind of randomly or whoever shouts louder,” she said. “I know it’s not fair, but obviously not everybody is going to be happy.”

Świątek said it’s not strange for fans to want their game-worn gear because “I would love to have a sweaty towel of Rafa’s when I was a kid.”

But she did say it’s always odd when “I try to give something to the kid, and the adult grabs it. You know, then I try to be, like, ‘Come on, that’s not the point.'”

Felix Auger-Aliassime, who advanced to the men’s quarterfinals Monday, said he was on the losing end in a similar incident when he was a kid, and that it changed his perspective.

“I was probably 13, and I was with friends,” he said. “I kind of went to grab, like, a wristband. I got hit in the face, and actually, my nose started bleeding. I was, like, ‘My God, I’m bleeding for a wristband. That’s crazy.’

“After that, I would kind of just stay back and let the others fight for the sweaty stuff.”

(Photo of Kamil Majchrzak: Foto Olimpik / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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