
Spectator treated for injuries as PANEL falls from above and loud bang heard in arena during Alexander Zverev clash
A TENNIS fan was taken to hospital after a stadium panel collapsed and landed on her during Alexander Zverev's match at Halle earlier today.
Zverev, 28, was taking on American Marcos Giron in front of a home German crowd.
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With Giron about to serve at 2-5 15-30 in the first set, a loud bang and subsequent yelling could be heard from the crowd.
It scarily emerged that an advertising panel had fallen from the front of the upper tier onto the lower seats.
Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein approached the stands offering an ice pack.
The tournament went on to confirm that a 62-year-old spectator had been taken to hospital following the frightening incident.
But thankfully, the woman did not suffer any major injuries.
Tournament director Ralf Weber said: "Something like this has never happened in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident."
Weber personally visited the spectator in hospital, and offered her a complimentary season ticket for next year's event.
Event managers Dr Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik later revealed how they felt the incident had taken place.
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A joint statement said: "We suspect that the drumming against the cushions caused screws to come loose.
"This should not happen, and we apologise. We will also check all other cushions and their fastenings immediately after the Zverev match. The safety of our spectators is our top priority."
'Please stay away from me' - Alexander Zverev swipes at Taylor Fritz in X-rated rant after Stuttgart Open final
Following a safety check, the contest was able to continue, with world No3 Zverev winning 6-2 6-1.
The 6ft 6in German will take on Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in tomorrow's round of 16.
Last week Zverev reached the final of the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart, only to lose to rival Taylor Fritz.
In his runner-up speech on court, spiky Zverev joked: "Last but not least, Taylor, I'm f***ing tired of you.
'I don't wanna see you again over the next two to three years.
"Please stay away from me. Don't come to Germany anymore.
"No, well done you deserve to win this title.
"You are one of the best players in the world on this surface and you were much better than me today, so congrats to the whole team and I'm sure you are going to do incredible on the next two tournaments on grass, so well done."
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