French Open fan injured in freak accident

The French Open quarter-final between Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga endured a delay when part of a giant video screen above the court was blown off in high winds, leaving at least one spectator injured.

The incident happened late in the second set on Tuesday when a sheet of metal, attached to a giant video screen and scoreboard, fell from high above the main Philippe Chatrier Court.

One man was seen being led away holding his head and arm as the court was buffeted by gusts reaching speeds of up to 40km/h.

The match was suspended for around 30 minutes as fans were cleared away from the danger area.

Tsonga was leading 5-2 in the second set at the time after taking the opener 6-1.

At least 12 rows of seats were then cleared and taped off beneath the area from where the debris fell.

Photographs showed the piece of metal to be around six metres long with spikes on one side, suggesting it was used to keep pigeons away from the huge screen, one of two positioned at opposite corners of the 14,911-capacity arena.