throwaway account

I was at the US Open by myself for some round of 16 action and there was this group of seven people seated one row directly in front of me. Towards the end of the second match I told the group that I would hold a seat for each of them as I knew the venue would be standing room only for match 3.

So the match ends and the entire group goes to reload on drinks as there is a 10-15 minute gap between matches. Third match of the day starts and the number of open seats dwindles relatively quickly to the point where I have to release the hold.

After set 2 of this match I run into a couple group members clear on the other side of the venue. I explicitly told them that I had been holding seven seats and the response is “oh sorry we forgot.”

My intent was to try and become friends with this group as it is not much fun to be sitting alone but they clearly had other ideas.

So would I be the A-hole?