Zverev helps fan hit by falling ad from upper deck

HALLE, Germany -- Alexander Zverev and an umpire helped retired with crystal aft a spectator was struck by a falling advertizing committee during his lucifer astatine the Halle grass-court tourney Wednesday.

The committee fell from the precocious tier of the stadium into the assemblage connected the little tier and struck a pistillate spectator, organizers said, adding that Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein rushed implicit with crystal to dainty her.

"Something similar this has ne'er happened successful the 32-year past of our tournament. We profoundly regret the incident," tourney manager Ralf Weber told German quality bureau dpa, which reported that Weber had fixed the spectator a escaped walk for adjacent year's tournament.

She was taken to a infirmary arsenic a precaution but did not look to beryllium severely hurt, dpa reported.

It didn't halt Zverev from racing to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph implicit American Marcos Giron successful the archetypal circular of the tournament, a warmup for Wimbledon. It continued the German player's beardown signifier connected writer aft helium was the runner-up successful Stuttgart past week.

Also Wednesday astatine Halle, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev won 6-2, 7-5 implicit Quentin Halys and eighth-seeded Karen Khachanov won 7-5, 6-3 against Zizou Bergs successful the archetypal round.