Zverev steps in after an advertising board lands on a spectator at Halle

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HALLE, Germany (AP) — 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 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.

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.

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

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.

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."

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.

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.

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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This story has been corrected. Zverev won the match 6-2, 6-1, not 6-1, 6-2.

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