A tennis enthusiast was caught attempting to steal from Jannik Sinner’s bag just after the Italian ace trounced Alexander Bublik, securing his spot in the US Open quarter-finals. Fresh off his Wimbledon triumph earlier this summer, Sinner dispatched Bublik 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in their Round of 16 face-off. Such was the World No. 1’s commanding victory over Bublik that the latter dubbed him “Ai” on social media.
However, no sooner had he soundly defeated Bublik than Sinner found himself dealing with a fan trying to grab an item from his tennis bag at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The fan in question made no effort to be discreet about his attempt to rob the world’s top-ranking male tennis player.
As Sinner was busy signing autographs for other fans, the would-be thief tried to unzip a part of his bag, only for a security guard to quickly cotton on to what was happening.
The guard seized the fan’s hand, removing it from Sinner’s bag. The Italian star promptly walked away from the incident, shaking his head in disbelief.
Sinner turned back around as he wondered what was taking place behind him, only for the supporter to walk away in embarassment.
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Afterwards, Sinner joked that he was given some “free points” by Bublik, who struggled to keep up the competitive nature of the contest in New York.
“Some days there are good, and some days there are not good,” Sinner said in his press conference. “Maybe I have a day where things don’t work, and then I lose easy. You know, you never know what’s happening. It’s very unpredictable the sport.
“As I said, you know, I tried to move him around, trying to see how he moves, trying to put it more on the physical side. Today I played some good tennis at times. At times, you know, he gave me some free points. I just tried to stay as consistent as possible, and I think that today was maybe the main key.”
When asked if the 23,000 fans inside the arena “deserved better” from his opponent, the Wimbledon champion replied: “I don’t know. You know, I just try, you know, from my side. So from my point of view to make the best, you know, what I can, you know, in that day.
“Sometimes, you know, we have days off where certain things doesn’t work. Some players, they have some problems behind the scenes, you never know.
“At the end of the day, we try to make the sport as interesting as possible. You know, at times I felt like today I was playing some great tennis, and I managed to break him very early, which then, you know, it gave me then the confidence to serve, you know, a little bit better and play from the back of the court a bit better.
“It was a faster, or a fast match, you know. But in the same time, you know, from my point of view, it’s good, you know. Obviously people come here to see some great tennis matches, some great battles, and not always that’s the case.
“But yeah, I mean, I don’t know what he said. I don’t know if he was in here, but, you know, I can just judge from my point of view and then how I managed to play, and then it was a good performance from my side.”
This article first appeared on Mirror US.