'Swallowed about 50 flies already' - Alexander Zverev has 'odd' run-in with insect during French Open 2025 quarter-final with Novak Djokovic
Published 04/06/2025 at 21:57 GMT+1
There was a bizarre moment during the French Open quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev involving an insect. Zverev has already had a memorable time at Roland-Garros, beginning with his journey to Paris when his plane was struck by lightning. And on Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday evening, he had an unpleasant run-in with a fly.
‘That’s an odd reaction!’ – Zverev appears to swallow fly during Djokovic match
Video credit: TNT Sports
The French Open quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev delivered what every fan wanted: drama, suspense, an extraordinarily high level of tennis - and even a bizarre moment when the latter appeared to swallow a fly.
Trailing 4-1 in the second set, Zverev fired an ace, then bent over, shook his head and appeared to spit twice on court.
"That’s an odd reaction after that ace," said co-commentator Jim Courier, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Zverev then seemed to exclaim: "Swallowed about 50 flies already," prompting laughter from some in the crowd.
"I think he might have swallowed a fly," added Nick Mullins.
"That’s what I thought I heard him say but I was waiting for you to take a chance on it," said Courier.
Mullins then joked: "He needs to swallow a spider."
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Zverev gives Djokovic 'a gift' as German's shot misses by a fraction on break point
Video credit: TNT Sports
It is not the first time the German has had a run-in with a fly at Roland-Garros. He had a similar experience during his fourth-round win over Tallon Griekspoor.
Zverev’s tournament has been memorable from the start - beginning with the journey to get there. His plane en route to Paris was struck by lightning.
"My trip here was funny because we were supposed to fly [on Thursday] evening at 6:45pm," he explained.
"We took off from Hamburg and we were flying together with [Jiri] Lehecka, [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. I took another plane and flew around 1am, so I arrived here at 3am.
"So that was quite funny. 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.
"So, that was my trip over. Best story of Roland-Garros so far."
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