Tennis player broke his hand on an ad board - what happens to the tournament now?

If the injury happened right during the match, the tennis player will almost certainly be withdrawn from the tournament. Tennis has clear rules: if an athlete can't continue playing because of an injury, they lose the match and are eliminated from the tournament. So for the tournament itself, it just means the opponent advances without playing (gets a walk-over).

But what happens next depends on how serious the injury is. If it's a serious injury, the player's tournament schedule for the season could fall apart: recovery takes time, surgery might be needed, there's rehabilitation. Some injuries sideline an athlete for weeks, some for months. They have to skip scheduled tournaments, lose ranking points, and their whole training schedule gets thrown off.

If the injury turns out to be not so serious - like a bruise or a mild strain - they might be able to come back in a week or two. But even a light injury to the hand or wrist is a pain for a tennis player, because you need full mobility and confidence in your arm. So even in those cases, people often take a break to avoid risking it and making it worse.

Whether a player is withdrawn from the tournament is decided by the medical commission right on the court, and what matters here is the doctor's assessment, not the player's own wishes. Practical side: if a tennis player gets injured but wants to try continuing, they're given time to recover (there are special breaks for this), but if the doctor sees that continuing is dangerous, they don't have to play anymore. As for the season - it depends on how serious the injury is, of course, but even with a fracture or a sprain you can come back relatively quickly if you start proper rehab and don't rush into the next tournaments.