Alexander Zverev is certainly making strong strides! After a tough loss at the Australian Open, he hit a rough patch with early exits at Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo. This led to heavy criticism from all sides. He admitted he should have taken a break before resuming the tour after Melbourne. But that break paid off when he won the BMW Open against Ben Shelton in April! His clay season wasn’t the best, but he’s ready to move on as the surface changes to grass. And in his opening match at Halle? He claimed a new kind of title!
Not that he won the tournament, but Zverev helped stop a disaster from getting worse. During his match against Marcos Giron at the Owl Arena on Wednesday, an advertising banner fell from the second tier. It struck a woman seated in the lower level of the stadium. Thanks to Sascha’s quick thinking and handing her an ice pack for her neck, the 62-year-old woman did not sustain serious injuries!
Later, Jose Moron, director at Punto de Break, reported on X that the woman “had to be hospitalized although she wasn’t seriously injured.” Meanwhile, the tournament moved to set the record straight about Zverev’s quick assistance in preventing further harm.
The Halle Open issued a statement explaining the incident at the Terra Wortmann Open. When the score was 5-2 in the first set, an advertising banner came loose from the upper tier and hit the woman sitting below. 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.” Despite this, she was “taken to hospital in Halle for safety reasons.”
Ojo con esto.
Un cartel publicitario se cayó encima de una espectadora de 62 años durante un partido en Halle.
La mujer ha tenido que ser hospitalizada, aunque sin lesiones graves. Menudo susto.
El torneo se ha disculpado en un comunicado y le ha dado un bono para 2026. https://t.co/Rvh8PA8kEp
— José Morón (@jmgmoron) June 18, 2025
Tournament director Ralf Weber expressed regret, saying, “There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident.” He personally checked on the woman’s condition at the medical center and promised her a season ticket for next year as a small gesture of compensation. Event managers Dr. Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik inspected the nearby boards immediately after the incident.
They suspected “that the drumming against the boards caused screws to come loose,” adding, “This must not happen and we apologise.” They assured that all other boards and their fixings would be checked thoroughly after Alexander Zverev’s match. That’s a relief, right?
In the end, Alexander finished the match with a 6–2, 6–1 win and advanced to the next round. Given his record since the clay court season, his ranking was already in trouble ahead of the tournament since Taylor Fritz knocked him out at the Boss Open final just earlier this week. And he wasn’t too happy about it!
Alexander Zverev calls out Fritz after tough loss
On Sunday, June 15, Taylor Fritz finally broke his title drought spectacularly. The 28-year-old clinched his ninth ATP Tour trophy—and his fourth on grass— in Stuttgart. Even though the rain tried to throw a wrench in the works, Fritz wouldn’t be stopped.
Firing 11 aces and denying Zverev a single break-point chance, Fritz was in complete control. He won 88 percent of his first-serve points and closed out the match 6-3, 7-6(0). With this win, Taylor now leads their head-to-head 8-5, having won their last five encounters straight. Zverev, visibly frustrated, didn’t hold back on the mic: “Taylor, I’m sick of you. I don’t want to see you again for the next two or three years. Please stay away from me. Don’t come to Germany ever again.”
But it wasn’t all heat—Zverev quickly softened his tone and praised Fritz. “No, well done, you deserve to win this title. You are one of the best players in the world on this surface, and you were much better than me today, so congrats to the whole team. I’m sure you are going to do incredible on the next two tournaments on grass, so well done,” he added. But now it’s time for his next grass court test.
At the moment, Alexander Zverev is still chasing his first grass-court trophy. This loss adds to his tough history on grass, having finished runner-up in Halle twice, back in 2016 and 2017. Now, he’s gearing up for his next match against Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 16.
The German holds a 4-0 lead in their head-to-head, so it could be a smooth ride for the German. But Sonego has proven to be a tough competitor, pushing Alexander Zverev to a tight 6-4, 7-6 win at this stage last year. Will the Italian challenge him again? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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