• A tennis star's plane was struck by lightning on his way to Roland Garros
• The highly-rated player is amongst the favourites for this year's tournament

By JEORGE BIRD

Published: 18:08 BST, 24 May 2025 | Updated: 18:09 BST, 24 May 2025

A tennis star's preparations for the French Open have been disrupted after his plane was struck by lightning on the way to Roland Garros.

The incident occurred on Thursday as the player, who is set to be one of the favourites at Roland Garros, was flying from Hamburg.

As a result, the plane had to make an emergency landing in the German city.

Jiri Lehecka and Brandon Nakashima were also travelling with the star.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz was the men's singles champion last year.

The tournament will take place from May 25 to June 8.

A tennis star's plane was struck by lightning as he travelled to the French Open

As reported by The Mirror, Alexander Zverev was the star whose plane was struck by lightning.

Zverev said: 'My trip over was phenomenal, actually. Some funny stories there.

'My trip here was funny because we were supposed to fly yesterday evening at 6.45pm and we took off from Hamburg, and we were flying together with Lehecka, Nakashima, some doubles guys, and we got struck by lightning, funnily enough.

'So we had to do an emergency landing back in Hamburg. Couldn't find another plane, so everybody else flew the next morning. I took another plane and flew around 1am, so I arrived here at 3am. So that was quite funny.

'It was my first-time experience got struck by lightning mid-air, which is funny because it was a little noise, no real wobbling, nothing, but yeah. So that was my trip over. Best story of Roland Garros so far.'

Zverev, the world No 3, was beaten by Alcaraz in last year's French Open final. Prior to that Zverev had been knocked out in the semi-finals for three years in succession.

In the first round this year Zverev will take on Learner Tien of the USA.

Jannik Sinner is the highest ranked male player going into this year's tournament, with Alcaraz second.

Alexander Zverev, who was beaten in last year's final, saw his journey heavily disrupted

Zverev will be looking to go all the way this year after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 final

Sinner, who is back from a three-month doping ban, will face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

Alcaraz will be up against Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.

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