#French Open gets rattled from sonic boom during matches

The sound of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier rattled many participants and guests at the French Open Wednesday.

The tournament, which had already been postponed once due to the coronavirus pandemic, was in the middle of a match between Dominik Koepfer and Stan Wawrinka when everyone at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France heard a strange sound, according to CBS Sports.

“It was kind of weird, we both stopped. We both looked at each other and didn’t know what it is,” said Dominik Koepfer, who was mid-serve when the sound reached his ears.

“I was a bit worried because I thought something bad happened. I looked at the chair umpire, he was a little bit shocked as well,” said Elina Svitolina.

“You never know these days what can happen, what’s going on. It was very strange, very loud, like something big dropped.”

Police immediately responded to the scene with a plan ready to evacuate the crowd and players — but the plan was immediately scrapped once authorities located the source of the sound.

“A very loud noise was heard in Paris and in the Paris region. There isn’t an explosion, it’s a fighter plane which has broken the sound barrier,” French police wrote on Twitter in the minutes following the incident.

The French Air Force claimed they received permission to break the sound barrier to test planes that have lost contact with traffic control, but later admitted that it failed to warn the surrounding area.

Several incidents had already shaken up the athletes and attendees of the French Open, from orders limiting the number of fans to the abrupt departure of Serena Williams on Wednesday.