Incident at Halle Tennis Tournament Injures Spectator

Halle, Germany – A spectator was injured during the first round of a tennis tournament in Halle when a section of advertising board fell from roughly eight meters, striking her in the neck.

The incident occurred on Tuesday as the match was underway. Alexander Zverev, the German tennis star, quickly responded by providing the injured woman with a bag of ice. The spectator, identified as a 62-year-old local resident, was able to walk out of the arena with assistance from medical staff but was later taken to the hospital for precautionary measures. Fortunately, she appeared to have sustained only minor injuries.

Ralf Weber, the tournament director, expressed his deep regret over the incident, noting, “Such an event has never happened in our 32-year history. We are very sorry for this.” He also offered the injured woman a season ticket for next year.

Zverev, visibly shaken by the event, remarked, “I hope the lady is doing well. Such things should not happen.” After a brief pause, Zverev resumed his match against American Marcos Giron without losing focus. He won the first set after 54 minutes and converted his first match point in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

Looking ahead, Zverev is set to face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday. Sonego secured a convincing win over Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round.

“Of course, I’m satisfied with how I played,” Zverev said, adding that the health and safety of everyone at the venue is of utmost importance. “It was a super match for me. It was a high level.” Zverev, the last remaining German player in the tournament, is using this event as preparation for the prestigious Wimbledon tournament starting June 30. He acknowledged, “I don’t have much time left to prepare.”