Three spectators sustained “minor injuries” during the quarter-final match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kei Nishikori on Court Philippe Chatrier after a metal sheet from the scoreboard fell on a section of the stands on Tuesday.

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In incredibly windy conditions, Tsonga was about to serve for a two-set lead before play was halted as the spectators were ushered away from the danger area.

One of the injured spectators was escorted by medics and appeared to be waving and smiling at the crowd.

The official Twitter account of Roland Garros tweeted: “A sheet of metal fell from the scoreboard onto members of the public, three of whom sustained minor injuries.”

Play resumed almost 40 minutes after the incident.

Tournament director Gilbert Ysern held a press conference later in the evening to explain what happened.

“As some of you may have seen, it’s just metal plaque, a three‑metre‑long metal plaque that fell from something we had put over the scoreboard to protect them from the pigeons,” he said.

“So it suddenly fell down, which of course nobody had anticipated, and it fell on a couple of people underneath.

“Three of them were taken to First Aid services, and two of them had nothing in fact, and just one person had an injury.He had an open injury on one of his wrists, so he was taken to the hospital for an investigation on his wrist to find exactly what he has, what he’s suffering from.

“As we speak, our organisation is with this person, of course.Of course this person and his three colleagues who were with him were I must say, shocked by what had happened.They were with this person who was injured at the infirmary.

“We will invite them, of course, when they want to come back. We will do good things for them, of course.”