World No. 2 Alcaraz announced he will not defend his title at Roland-Garros – which starts on May 24, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max – and will miss Wimbledon too, due to a wrist injury.
In Alcaraz’s place, Zverev moves up to become the second seed in the men’s singles draw and, as a result, is on the opposite side to world No. 1 and heavy favourite in Paris, Jannik Sinner.
“The one that benefits enormously from Alcaraz pulling out is Zverev,” Henman said. “He’s as far away as possible from Sinner and he will be excited about his opportunity.”
The 29-year-old still has some formidable players on his side of the draw though, with 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud and eighth seed Alex de Minaur all possible future opponents.
Zverev, who is still seeking his maiden Grand Slam title, has been a beaten finalist at the French Open, Australian Open and US Open in recent years.
Elsewhere in the men’s singles draw, Henman said he would be excited by a possible third-round encounter between Djokovic and Joao Fonseca, but admitted the veteran faced a tough start to his tournament.
Djokovic has played just one clay match this season as he has been battling a shoulder issue and faces a tricky opener against “the big-serving Frenchman” Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Henman also highlighted some exciting first-round clashes the locals should have their eyes on.
“Stan Wawrinka against Arthur Fils is going to be an incredible first-round match, past champion up against a hugely talented French player,” he said.
“Hugo Gaston against Gael Monfils is a local derby. And another local derby is [Ugo] Humbert against [Adrian] Mannarino, that will get the French crowd excited.”
Henman added that he “likes the look” of Cam Norrie’s draw, saying that “he’s got a couple of winnable matches to play [Valentin] Vacherot in the third round.”
‘Winnable matches’
In the women’s singles, Henman said that he had high hopes for a positive start for the British contingent taking part at Roland-Garros.
“I think they’ve all got winnable matches, [Katie] Boulter up against a wildcard, [Emma] Raducanu against [Solana] Sierra and Fran Jones against [Beatriz] Haddad Maia, so those are good opportunities in the first round of a Grand Slam,” he said.
Raducanu, who reunited with her former coach Andrew Richardson in recent weeks, has endured a rocky build-up to the French Open, dealing with a post-viral illness and losing in straight sets to Dianne Parry in the first round of the Strasbourg Open earlier this month.
Henman also picked a potentially thrilling third-round meeting of four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Jelana Ostapenko as one to keep an eye on.
“I think Ostapenko’s got a very good head-to-head against Swiatek, so some great match-ups and excited to see how this draw unfolds,” he said.