Zverev Steps In After an Advertising Board Lands on a Spectator at Halle
Alexander Zverev and an umpire helped out with ice after a spectator was struck by a falling advertising board during his match at the Halle grass-court tournament Wednesday.
The board fell from the upper tier of the stadium into the crowd on the lower tier and struck a female spectator, organizers said, adding that Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein rushed over with ice to treat her. 'Something like this has never happened in the 32-year history of our tournament. We deeply regret the incident,' tournament director Ralf Weber told German news agency dpa, which reported that Weber had given the spectator a free pass for next year's tournament. She was taken to a hospital as a precaution but did not appear to be badly hurt, dpa reported.
It didn't stop Zverev from racing to a 6–1, 6–2 win over American Marcos Giron in the first round of the tournament, a warm-up for Wimbledon. It continued the German player's strong form on grass after he was the runner-up in Stuttgart last week.
Also Wednesday at Halle, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev won 6–2, 7–5 over Quentin Halys, and eighth-seeded Karen Khachanov won 7–5, 6–3 against Zizou Bergs in the first round.
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