‘Never been anything like this in our 32-year history’ - Spectator taken to hospital after being struck by falling advertising banner
Updated 19/06/2025 at 10:32 GMT+1
A 62-year-old female spectator was taken to hospital after being hit by an advertising banner that fell from the stadium’s upper tier. The incident took place during Alexander Zverev’s 6-2 6-1 Halle Open first-round victory against Marcos Giron. The spectator did not suffer any major injuries and has been offered a free season ticket for next year's event by the organisers.
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A female spectator was taken to hospital after being hit by an advertising banner that fell from the stadium’s upper tier during Alexander Zverev’s Halle Open victory against Marcos Giron.
The fan, 62, was watching Zverev’s 6-2 6-1 win over Giron from the lower tier when she was hit by the falling advertising banner. As per the tournament website, she did not suffer any major injuries.
German second seed Zverev and umpire Renaud Lichtenstein handed an ice pack to the spectator, who held it against her neck before going to the hospital to be checked.
Organisers of the Halle event, known as the Terra Wortmann Open, subsequently released a statement explaining how the situation might have happened.
It read: "A tennis spectator at the Terra Wortmann Open had a stroke of luck during Alexander Zverev’s singles match.
"At 5-2 in the first set, an advertising banner came loose from the upper tier and hit the 62-year-old woman from Halle, who was sitting in the lower tier.
"Fortunately, she did not suffer any major injuries and was able to leave the stadium on her own after the shock with an ice pack in her neck handed to her by Alexander Zverev. She was nevertheless taken to hospital in Halle for safety reasons."
"There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident", tournament director Ralf Weber added.
Weber is said to have personally inquired about the spectator's condition and promised her a free season ticket for next year’s event.
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Meanwhile, event managers Dr Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik said in a joint statement: "We suspect that the drumming against the boards caused screws to come loose.
"This must not happen and we apologise. We will also check all the other boards and their fixings immediately after the Zverev match."
Zverev will play Lorenzo Sonego in the tournament’s second round on Thursday.
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