Zverev turns first-aider as he helps an injured fan
Alexander Zverev's hunt for an elusive grasscourt title has begun with a clinical 6-2 6-1 victory over Marcos Giron in a Halle Open first round match during which he also helped an injured spectator.
Wednesday's match was interrupted by an advertising hoarding falling on spectators during the opening set.
A section of the hoarding came crashing down from the upper tier onto spectators below, forcing the chair umpire to stop play before Zverev immediately procured an ice pack for an elderly woman who'd been injured.
AZ in the zone 🇩🇪@AlexZverev ➡️ 6-2, 6-1 vs Giron ➡️ hasn't lost an opening match on grass since Wimbledon 2019@ATPHalle | #ATPHalle pic.twitter.com/VXyZbk64pK
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 18, 2025
The players waited patiently while tournament organisers scrambled to provide medical assistance.
Organisers said the 62-year-old did not suffer any major injuries and was able to leave the stadium after the initial shock, but she was taken to hospital as a precaution.
They added that drumming against the boards may have caused the screws to come loose.
"There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident," tournament director Ralf Weber said in a statement.
On court, Zverev finished the match with 23 winners in the 79-minute contest where Giron struggled to match the power of the German's first serve and had no answer when his opponent's returns found all corners of the court.
World No.3 Zverev, still nursing the disappointment of Sunday's Stuttgart Open final defeat by Taylor Fritz, showed no mercy with the home fans firmly behind the towering second seed who has finished runner-up twice in Halle.
"I hope the lady is okay. Something like that should of course not happen," Zverev said.
"Of course, I am happy with the way I played. But the most important thing is that everyone here goes home healthy and happy.
"It was a great match for me, I thought it was quite high level. Maybe he wanted to play a bit better than he did, but all in all I felt like I didn't let him play that well, which was important for me."
Earlier, eighth seed Karen Khachanov dispatched Belgium's Zizou Bergs 7-5 6-3 despite a nasty fall on the grass.
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HALLE, Germany -- 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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