Alexander Zverev Rushes to Help 62-year-old Spectator After Advertising Board Falls on Her at Halle Open

World No.3 Alexander Zverev entered the Halle Open after losing the Stuttgart Open final to Taylor Fritz.

Alexander Zverev Rushes to Help 62-year-old Spectator After Advertising Board Falls on Her at Halle Open

Alexander Zverev helped a spectator after a board fell on her (Image via X/The Washington Times, Kirill Veljovic)

Alexander Zverev kick-started his Halle Open campaign against America’s Marcos Giron on Wednesday (June 18). But an incident halted the match for a while.

During the first set, an advertising board from the upper tier of the stadium fell onto the crowd sitting on the lower tier. The board hit a 62-year-old female spectator who was helped by Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein.

The German ace provided her an ice pack and with it, she was later taken to a hospital as a precaution. Tournament director Ralf Weber met her later and gave her a free pass for next year’s Halle Open.

Something like this has never happened in the 32-year history of our tournament. We deeply regret the incident.

Ralf Weber said (H/T: Tennis.com)

The match resumed but not before the screws holding the boards were checked. According to two event managers, Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik, screws perhaps got loosened because of the “drumming against the boards“.

When the match started, Zverev quickly finished it in his favor, and with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-1, the 28-year-old booked a spot in the round of 16, scheduling the match against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego against whom he has won all their previous four matches. The upcoming match will be their second meeting on grass following last year’s Halle Open where they met at this stage with Zverev winning it in straight sets.

Before setting up the clash with the World No.3, the 30-year-old went past Jan-Lennard Struff. The World No.46, the winner of four singles titles, is chasing his first title of the season.

Alexander Zverev sends a strong message to critics

Alexander Zverev is chasing his second title of the season at the Halle Open. Zverev, who lost the Australian Open final to World No.1 Jannik Sinner, ended his trophy drought at the BMW Open and after ending his campaign on the clay swing (lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open), Zverev entered the grass swing only to reach the final of the Stuttgart Open and lose the match to Taylor Fritz.

Alexander Zverev (3)
Alexander Zverev (Image via X/ATP Tour)

It was his fifth consecutive defeat to the American in their 13th encounter. At the pre-tournament press conference in Halle, Zverev sent a message to those who have been criticizing him for his inconsistent performances this year.

Yes, I know, everyone is always incredibly surprised when I win a tennis match these days. But at the end of the day, as I said in Stuttgart, I’m still number 3 in the world. I’m number 3 in the race this year, even though I’ve had such a bad year, as everyone seems to think.

While Zverev is still chasing his first Grand Slam titles, the two youngsters, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz shared the last six Majors between them. Alcaraz recently defended his French Open crown by beating the Italian in a thrilling five-set battle and is participating at the Queen’s Club Championships to chase his fourth title on grass.

Of course, the other two are ahead of me, deservedly so at the moment. They’ve won the most tournaments, but I come after them. And no matter which ranking you look at, it’s the same in both rankings. And I just have to make sure that I catch up with them a bit now.

Alexander Zverev added

If Zverev reaches the final, he could set up a clash with Sinner, who is bidding to defend his title and win his second grass-court tournament. Sinner went past Yannick Hanfmann to kick-start his Halle Open campaign and will meet Alexander Bublik next.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist is chasing his first grass-court title in Halle. Last year, eventual finalist Hubert Hurkacz knocked him out in the semifinals.

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