US Open spectator identified after 'disgusting' act with child caught on camera

A man accused of "disgusting" behaviour towards a child at the US Open has reportedly been identified after footage of the incident went viral.

The clip, which has been widely circulated on social media, showed an incident which occurred following Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak's shock win over number nine seed Karen Khachanov on Thursday.

Majchrzak won in five sets to progress to the third round of the men's singles, where he will face Switzerland's Leandro Riedi on Monday.

After his victory over Khachanov, Majchrzak stopped to sign autographs for fans at courtside and offered his hat to a young spectator, named online as Brock.

But before the youngster could put it somewhere for safekeeping, a grown man ripped it from his hands and put it in his own bag – with Majchrzak unaware of what had just happened.

The young boy could be seen saying 'what are you doing?' but was ignored by the man.

A clip of the incident quickly went viral with tennis fans branding his behaviour "disrespectful" and "disgusting".

Online sleuths quickly claimed that the unidentified man was Polish millionaire Piotr Szczerek, and compatriot Majchrzak has now seemingly confirmed those claims are accurate.

He told the New York Post that Szczerek was the man involved, with The Telegraph repeating the claims. Szczerek, however, is yet to publicly comment on the allegation.

SPORTbible has reached out to Piotr Szczerek for comment.

"Obviously it was some kind of confusion," Majchrzak said, claiming that Szczerek sponsors his tennis federation in Poland.

"I was pointing, giving the hat, but I had a lot going on after my match, after being super tired and super excited for the win. I just missed it.

"I had like a dead look if you know what I mean. I'm sure the guy was also acting in the moment of heat, in the moment of emotions."

Majchrzak has since met with Brock, posting a picture of the pair together to his Instagram story. The young fan received signed merchandise during their meeting and a replacement hat from the US Open star.

"Hello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!" Majchrzak captioned a photo of them together.

“I am impressed by the power of the Internet. We got it! All good now," he added.

Majchrzak also revealed that Szczerek has since attempted to make amends with the young fan and his family.

"He also wanted to make things right, so I gave him the credentials for Brock's mom on the same social media I was using to contact her," Majchrzak said.

"So, maybe he can make things right himself."