The 62-year-old woman was sitting in the lower tier watching Alexander Zverev’s match with Marcos Giron when she was struck, but did not suffer any major injuries, according to the tournament website.
Zverev handed her an ice pack, which she held to her neck as she left the stadium before going to hospital to be checked.
“There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident,” said tournament director Ralf Weber.
Weber also promised the woman a free season ticket for next year’s event.
“We suspect that the drumming against the boards caused screws to come loose,” event managers Dr Udo Kleine and Uwe Greipel-Dominik said in a joint statement.
“This must not happen and we apologise. We will also check all the other boards and their fixings immediately after the Zverev match.”
When the match resumed, Zverev completed a 6-2 6-1 victory to move into the last 16.
Alexander Zverev paused his match at the Halle Open on Wednesday because part of an advertising board fell on a fan in the crowd, via the tournament’s website.
One 62-year-old female spectator was hit by the board, which fell from the upper deck. After the sign fell, Zverev and chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein went into the stands and provided ice for the spectator who was struck.
Her injuries didn’t appear to be severe, although she was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures. She was able to leave the tournament on her own with an ice pack Zverev gave her. She was later gifted a free pass to next year’s tournament.
“There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident,” tournament director Ralf Weber said in a press release.
The advertising boards were checked before the match resumed.
Zverev was still able to pull of a 6–2, 6–1 win over American Marcos Giron in the first round.
