French Open favourite’s plane is struck by LIGHTNING as tennis star’s Roland Garros preparations are disrupted in bizarre circumstances

• 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

World No 3 Alexander Zverev has revealed that his plane to Paris for this year’s French Open was struck by lightning.

The German has headed to Roland Garros as one of the favourites, having reached the final 12 months ago only to fall to Carlos Alcaraz. 

After departing Hamburg, Zverev was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after his aircraft was struck by lightning. 

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

The 28-year-old was remarkably relaxed about the incident which he described as a ‘funny story’ during his press conference for the second Grand Slam of the year, which gets underway on Monday. 

‘My trip over was phenomenal, actually,’ he said. ‘Some funny stories there. 

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

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

‘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, 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.

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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French Open favourite’s plane is struck by LIGHTNING as tennis star’s Roland Garros preparations are disrupted in bizarre circumstances

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