It might have been an honest mistake, but the visiting German team at the annual Fed Cup hosted by the US Tennis Association certainly didn't see it that way.

The Nazi Germany-era national anthem, which begins with the lines, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles," was sang by a soloist before a quarter-final match in the tennis tournament in Hawai'i last night in front of the German national tennis team and one of its players, Andrea Petkovic.

The anthem has been banned in Germany since 1945. Speaking after the event, Petkovic said that she considered walking off the court. "I thought it was the epitome of ignorance, and I've never felt more disrespected in my whole life, let alone in Fed Cup, and I've played Fed Cup for 13 years now and it is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

The German coach, Barbara Ritter, was also furious with the United States Tennis Association, saying that it was "an absolute scandal, a disrespectful incident and inexcusable."

The USTA has since issued an apology, stating that "this mistake will not occur again."

 

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