Court invader kisses Nadal at U.S. Open
Wed, 09 Sep 06:55:00 2009
Rafael Nadal was kissed by a fan who invaded the Arthur Ashe Stadium court after he beat Gael Monfils to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The Spaniard was returning to his chair having removed his shirt when the male fan put his arms around the former world number one and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Security staff bundled the fan away quickly while a smiling Nadal appeared unruffled by the incident.
"The man has been arrested and it is now in the hands of the NYPD and we will be reviewing the footage to see whether security needs to be strengthened," USTA official Tim Curry said.
Asked about his close shave with the fan, Nadal told reporters: "For me it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice. he was a great fan, he said I love you."
It is the second time this year at a grand slam that a fan has made contact with a player on court following an incident in the French Open final where a spectator rushed on and tried to put a hat on world number one Roger Federer.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Wed, 09 Sep 06:55:00 2009
Rafael Nadal was kissed by a fan who invaded the Arthur Ashe Stadium court after he beat Gael Monfils to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The Spaniard was returning to his chair having removed his shirt when the male fan put his arms around the former world number one and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Security staff bundled the fan away quickly while a smiling Nadal appeared unruffled by the incident.
"The man has been arrested and it is now in the hands of the NYPD and we will be reviewing the footage to see whether security needs to be strengthened," USTA official Tim Curry said.
Asked about his close shave with the fan, Nadal told reporters: "For me it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice. he was a great fan, he said I love you."
It is the second time this year at a grand slam that a fan has made contact with a player on court following an incident in the French Open final where a spectator rushed on and tried to put a hat on world number one Roger Federer.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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