Tennis: 'Lunatic' neo-Nazi disrupts Swedish Open semi-final

A man raises his arm in a Nazi-like salute after walking on the court during the Swedish Open semifinal match between Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer, on July 22, 2017. PHOTO: AFP

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A man shouting a Nazi slogan briefly disrupted the Swedish Open semi-final between Spain's Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer on Saturday in Bastad, a town in south-western Sweden.

A video released by the Swedish tabloid Expressen showed a man wearing a black T-shirt with a symbol of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi group, casually walking on to the court and shouting "Hell Seger!", a Swedish translation of the Nazi salute.

The young man, who raised his right arm, was quickly met with a booing crowd and he was later led away by security guards.

"I got scared when (the man) talked the way he did. He's a lunatic...what he did is not normal," Ferrer was quoted as saying by Expressen.

The match, which resumed after a short interruption, ended with a 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 victory for Ferrer who will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov in Sunday's final.

The Nordic Resistance Movement, founded in 1997, is described as the most violent Nazi organisation in Sweden, by Swedish anti-racism magazine Expo.

It has nearly 200 active members, according to Expo.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.