Dramatic scenes at Halle: Advertising board falls into crowd during Alexander Zverev's victory

An advertising board collapsed during Alexander Zverev's match at the Halle Open. The German was making his tournament debut against Marcos Giron when the unusual situation occurred, ending with fans receiving attention due to the impact of the board in the stands.

"Sascha" took to the court in the morning at OW Arena, Halle's main stadium. He secured a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 victory over American Marcos Giron, in which he faced no break points and converted 4 of 9 in his favor. The German won 77% of points on his serve and hit 10 aces.

However, the match was overshadowed in the first set when play was halted by a loud bang from the stands. Commotion quickly erupted from a section of the crowd that had been close to the incident. Images show a piece of an advertising board that fell from the first level of the stands onto spectators.

According to a tournament statement, a 62-year-old woman suffered a blow from the board, but sustained no serious injuries. After a few minutes of match stoppage – during which the woman was removed from the stands for attention – the match resumed normally. In fact, the woman was able to walk out on her own with an ice pack on her neck that Zverev had given her, and was then taken to a local hospital.

"Something like this has never happened in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident," said tournament director Ralf Weber.

Dr. Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik, as event directors, checked the neighboring cushions immediately after the incident. "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."

Ultimately, the World No. 3 was able to finish the match with a straightforward victory in just one hour and 19 minutes of play. The German now advances to the Round of 16, where he will face Italy's Lorenzo Sonego for a spot in the quarterfinals.