Kamil Majchrzak has been reunited with the young boy who was left devastated when a man snatched a souvenir cap away from him in the aftermath of the Pole’s victory at the US Open.
The 29-year-old, who pulled off the biggest win of his career by beating No 9 seed Karen Khachanov in a marathon five-set thriller on Thursday, was filmed removing his cap and trying to hand it to a child, named Brock, in the crowd on Court 11.
But in ugly scenes that quickly went viral, a man standing next to the boy reached out, grabbed the cap and stuffed it into his bag — leaving the youngster looking crestfallen and asking ‘what are you doing?’ as Majchrzak walked away, unaware of what had just happened.
The clip sparked fury online with fans branding the man ‘selfish’ and ‘a jerk’ for stealing a moment that should have belonged to a child.
Majchrzak moved to put things right on Friday, taking to Instagram to appeal for help in finding the boy.
‘After the match I didn’t record that my cap didn’t get to the boy,’ he wrote.
Kamil Majchrzak has been reunited with the young boy who had a souvenir cap snatched away
The pair shook hands before Majchrzak appeared to be handing over some merchandise
‘Thanks to @asicstennis I’ve got enough caps, so I’m prepared for that. 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.’
They have now been reunited at Flushing Meadows and a video posted on Majchrzak’s Instagram account showed shaking hands and talking.
He looked to have a bag of merchandise with him that he handed over to the young boy before they posed for a picture together.
Majchrzak’s caption read: ‘Hello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!’
Unfortunately, Majchrzak’s day quickly went downhill as he was forced to retire from his third round match against Leandro Riedi due to injury. He was trailing 5-3 in the first set.
Kamil Majchrzak was signing tried to give his cap to a young boy, but a man snatched it away
Majchrzak issued a plea for his followers to help him identify the boy – and it quickly worked
Despite the happy resolution with Brock, there has been a rising backlash against the hat grabber.
The heart-warming resolution capped a dramatic 48 hours for Majchrzak, whose on-court exploits have already made headlines in New York.
On Thursday he produced a performance of extraordinary grit to topple Khachanov 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(5) in four and a half hours — saving five match points along the way.
It marked his first win over a top 10 opponent and matched his best-ever run at the US Open.