‘I am a Sufferer and Completely Harmless’ Says US Open Photographer Who Walked Onto the Court docket

The photographer who made worldwide headlines after interrupting a pivotal match level in a US Open tennis match final night time has damaged his silence, stating that he did nothing incorrect and is a sufferer of an internet mob.

The photographer, whose identification was unknown when information tales broke in a single day and this morning, is veteran freelance photojournalist Selcuk Acar. He broke his silence this morning in an interview over text with Daily Mail.

“I’m a victim and totally innocent,” Acar says. “This incident has already turning into a lynching, and although I’m innocent, I’ve suffered greatly.”

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) shortly stripped the photographer of his credentials. However, he says that he didn’t do something incorrect and had been instructed that he may enter the court docket by a safety official at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Acar says the safety personnel instructed him “the match is stopped.”

When the photographer started strolling alongside the court docket, which isn’t permitted throughout play, Acar says he realized that Bonzi, the unranked challenger who in the end topped mercurial Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev in 5 units, was getting ready for his second serve throughout a match level within the third set.

“I didn’t know and see if Medvedev saw me,” Acar instructed Daily Mail.

The photographer says he is aware of higher than to make that mistake, and would by no means have carried out so had he not been instructed to enter the court docket by safety.

“I’m not a photojournalist that can make such a mistake,” he says. Acar says he’s speaking along with his employers, Turkish company Anadolu Agency, on this case, and attorneys about his choices.

The photographer claims that if there are safety cameras on web site, which certainly there should be, they are going to clear his identify and present that he didn’t do something incorrect.

The controversy would doubtless not have spiraled uncontrolled had the match’s chair umpire, Greg Allensworth, not granted Bonzi a redo of his failed first serve after Acar was noticed strolling court docket aspect.

Although Allenworth’s choice is consistent with sporting guidelines, it has confirmed controversial and led to Medvedev having a prolonged meltdown on the court docket, throughout which he yelled on the umpire and alleged that he simply wished Medvedev to lose the third set so he may go residence. An incident that would have triggered just a few seconds of delay and gone solely unnoticed blew up as a result of Medvedev erupted, a lot to the photographer’s dismay.

Medvedev stated after the match that he didn’t have any points with the photographer.

“I was not upset with the photographer. I was upset with the decision. The delay from the photographer was probably four seconds and a half. I’m not sure if it’s enough for a (first) serve,” Medvedev instructed reporters following the match, per AP.

As of now, Selcuk Acar’s credentials stay revoked.