'EMERGENCY LANDING' DELAYS ZVEREV'S PARIS ARRIVAL AS PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

Alexander Zverev's trip to Paris resulted in a horrifying delay. (Getty/Rene Nijhuis)

Last year's French Open finalist, Alexander Zverev, has shared the "best story" of the tournament so far, revealing that his plane got struck by lightning en route to Paris.

The 28-year-old is gearing up for the second Grand Slam of the year with a point to prove after an underwhelming season post-Australian Open, picking up one title in Munich.

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After exiting the Hamburg Open in the round of 16 to Alexandre Müller, it offered the German a chance to arrive at Roland-Garros earlier than anticipated.

However, his flight was anything but routine.

"We were supposed to fly yesterday evening at 6.45pm, and we took off from Hamburg," said the world No.3.

"We took off from Hamburg, and we were flying together with [Jiří] Lehečka, [Brandon] Nakashima, and some doubles guys, and we got struck by lightning, funnily enough.

"We had to do an emergency landing back in Hamburg and couldn't find another plane, so everybody else flew the next morning."

He later added: "It was the first time I got struck by lightning mid-air, which was funny because there was just a little noise, no real wobbling, nothing."

The three-time major finalist eventually landed in Paris at 3am local time.

He has been drawn to face American rising star Learner Tien in the opening round.

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