The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

U.S. Tennis Association Apologizes For Playing Nazi-Era German Anthem

Oops.

By , a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy.
tennis
tennis

Talk about a diplomatic double fault. The U.S. Tennis Association had to apologize after playing a Nazi-era version of the German anthem.

Talk about a diplomatic double fault. The U.S. Tennis Association had to apologize after playing a Nazi-era version of the German anthem.

The embarrassing gaffe occurred at the the opening of the Fed Cup in Hawaii, before a first-round match between America’s Alison Riske and Germany’s Andrea Petkovic. A local opera singer sang the German anthem using an outdated verse widely synonymous with the Nazi era: “Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles, uber alles in der Welt.”

The verse, which translates to “Germany, Germany, above all, above all in the world,” was scrapped after World War II because of its affiliation with Adolf Hitler’s rule. Apparently no one warned the Fed Cup organizers.

You can watch the cringe-worthy moment here, with some stunned-looking German players and fans trying to recover for the remainder of the anthem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EjbQJhlgE

The German team was furious. “I thought it was the epitome of ignorance, and I’ve never felt more disrespected in my whole life, let alone in Fed Cup,” Petkovic said. She said she even considered walking off the court before the match. A stunned German tennis coach Barbara Ritter called the error “an absolute scandal, a disrespectful incident, and inexcusable.”

The USTA issued a statement extending “its sincerest apologies” to the German team and fans. “In no way did we mean any disrespect. This mistake will not occur again,” the statement said.

It also tweeted an apology, reiterating it wouldn’t happen again. The German Tennis Federation’s reply hinted it may not be over the gaffe quite yet:

The German anthem now begins with the more palatable and way less historically-weighted “Unity and justice and freedom.”

After exchanging profuse apologies, the U.S. team beat Germany, and will now challenge the Czech Republic in the semifinals, with both a hard-won win and a hard-won diplomatic lesson under its belt.

Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RobbieGramer

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.