FRENCH OPEN TENNIS STAR'S PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING TO FORCE EMERGENCY LANDING

French Open tennis star Alexander Zverev has revealed his plane was stuck by lightning to force an emergency landing en route to Paris.

Zverev, a runner-up in the men’s singles at Roland-Garros in 2024, has opened up about the incident which occurred mid-air during the flight.

The 28-year-old German, seeded third at the French Open this year, spoke about the emergency landing in his press conference on Friday before the Grand Slam tournament gets underway on Sunday.

‘My trip over was phenomenal, actually,’ Zverev told reporters. ‘Some funny stories there.

‘My trip here was funny because we were supposed to fly yesterday evening at 6.45pm.

‘We took off from Hamburg and we were flying together with [Jiri] Lehecka, [Brandon] Nakashima, some doubles guys – and we got struck by lightning.

‘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 the first time [in my] experience [that a plane was] 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.’

Emma Raducanu makes withdrawal decision

There have been a number of other interesting storylines from the French Open before the action gets started on the red dirt this weekend.

It is reported that British star Emma Raducanu has decided not to withdraw from the tournament despite suffering a back injury at the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Raducanu has complained about ‘long and intense’ spasms but is still set to face China’s world No.42 Wang Xinyu in her first-round match.

Carlos Alcaraz to face new opponent

Carlos Alcaraz, tipped as one of the favourites to win the French Open men’s singles title, has been handed a new opponent in his opening match.

The defending Roland-Garros champion was set for a showdown with former world No.4 Kei Nishikori but the Japanese star’s withdrawal means the Spaniard will now face 23-year-old Italian Giulio Zeppieri instead.

Jannik Sinner warned over hostile reception

Jannik Sinner, one of the other favourites for Roland-Garros glory, only recently made his return from a controversial three-month ban.

The Italian has been warned he’ll face a hostile reception when he locks horns with Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in his first-round match.

‘He is going to hear it from the French crowd in Paris for the first week,’ Andy Roddick said on his podcast, with Sinner guaranteed to face another French opponent – Richard Gasquet or Terence Atmane – in the second round if he defeats Rinderknech.

‘Two Frenchmen straight out of the gate, that’s a guarantee and then [possibly a third French player] Arthur Fils [in the fourth round].’

2025-05-24T11:49:35Z