Alexander Zverev, the No. 3 seed and 2024 French Open runner-up, experienced a mid-air scare when his flight from Hamburg to Paris for the 2025 French Open was struck by lightning, forcing an emergency landing back in Hamburg. Speaking to reporters on May 23, 2025, as reported by The Washington Post, Zverev recounted, “We were supposed to fly yesterday evening at 6:45 p.m., and we took off from Hamburg. We got struck by lightning. We had to do an emergency landing back in Hamburg.” The incident delayed his arrival in Paris until 3 a.m. after he boarded a different flight at 1 a.m. Zverev, traveling with fellow players Brandon Nakashima and Jiri Lehecka, described the event as largely uneventful, noting, “It made a little noise—no real wobbling or anything. It was a first-time experience,” per Yardbarker.
Despite the travel disruption, Zverev practiced at Roland Garros on Friday and is set to face 19-year-old American Learner Tien in the first round on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Tien previously defeated Zverev in straight sets at the 2025 Mexican Open, adding intrigue to the matchup. The German, coming off a third-set tiebreaker loss to Alexandre Müller at the Hamburg Open, remains optimistic despite the scare and his recent form, which Boris Becker called a “mental blockade” due to poor scheduling. Posts on X, like @TennisXtra, noted the incident’s oddity, with fans relieved Zverev was unharmed. The lightning strike, while rare, aligns with aviation data from AerotimeHub, estimating planes are hit once per 1,000 flight hours, typically without major damage due to modern aircraft design.[]
