16 hours ago
Alexander 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.
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The board fell from the upper tier of the stadium into the crowd on the lower tier near the end of the first set and struck a 62-year-old female spectator from the local area, organizers said, adding that Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein rushed over with ice to treat her.
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Organizers said the spectator was able to leave the venue by herself, holding an ice pack provided by Zverev to her neck. She was later taken to a hospital as a precaution, they added.
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'Something like this has never happened in the 32-year history of our tournament. We deeply regret the incident,' tournament director Ralf Weber said.
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The tournament said that Weber met with the spectator in the event's medical center and gave her a free pass for next year's tournament.
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A statement from two event managers, Udo Kleine und Uwe Greipel-Dominik, on the tournament website suggested that screws holding the board in place might have come close because of 'drumming against the boards.'
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They added that nearby boards were checked before the match continued and that plans were in place to check all other boards at that court.
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It didn't stop Zverev from racing to a 6-2, 6-1 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.
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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. Alex Michelsen beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 7-5 and will play Medvedev next.
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