Fan drama with a happy ending CEO steals player's cap from boy - and reaps the wrath of the net
A man snatches a cap from a boy's hand that he has received from tennis pro Kamil Majchrzak. A short time later, the thief, a wealthy building contractor, finds himself in a shitstorm.
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- After a match at the US Open, a man rips the cap from a boy's hand that he received from the winner of the match in front of the camera.
- A short time later, the man is identified as the CEO of a Polish construction company. The online community is up in arms against the entrepreneur and his company.
- The tennis pro, who is also Polish, tracks down the boy and hands him a bag full of fan merchandise.
What a disappointment! Tennis pro Kamil Majchrzak has just signed a baseball cap and holds it out to a boy. Just as he takes the souvenir, the man next to him grabs it, apparently unmoved, and puts it in the pocket of the woman standing next to him.
The boy then says something in the direction of the Polish tennis player, but he doesn't notice the mini-drama and continues to sign tennis articles that the fans are holding out to him.
The cap thief doesn't make off with his loot but, visibly delighted with his catch, tries to get something else from the player.
What he doesn't seem to realize is that the TV camera is recording everything and a short time later the pictures are doing the rounds on social media.
Cap thief is a wealthy CEO
There, nasty comments and curses rained down. The outrage machinery picks up speed and soon the shameless man is identified as Polish building contractor and millionaire Piotr Szczerek. He soon deactivated his social media channels. At least the Instagram channel of his construction company Drogbruk is still online. The Google reviews currently have little to do with the quality of their buildings.
Managing Director Szcerek's faux pas also obscures the company's commitment to young tennis players and local communities. True to the adage that it takes years to build a good reputation, but only seconds to destroy it.
The case is somewhat reminiscent of the unfaithful husband convicted by the Kiss Cam at the Coldplay concert. It is not yet clear whether the consequences for the Polish building contractor will be as serious as those for the US tech CEO.
Happy ending for the boy
The story has a happy ending for the boy who was robbed. Tennis pro Kamil Majchrzak only found out what had happened from the media. "After the game, I didn't realize that the cap hadn't reached the boy." He calls on the net community to help him find the boy.
He succeeds and shortly afterwards the boy - Brock is his name - not only receives a new cap, but a whole bag full of fan merchandise from Kamil Majchrzak, plus a photo with the star.
The US Open ended on a less happy note for the Polish tennis pro. In his second round match against Leandro Riedi from Switzerland, he had to retire injured before the end of the first set. He leaves the court in tears.
In the meantime, the convicted millionaire is also said to have tried to contact the boy in order to reconcile with him.