PARIS — A tennis player at the French Open was visibly startled by a sonic boom Wednesday just as he was about to serve a ball.
Before the cause of the loud bang was known, there was a brief moment of panic outside the grounds of Roland Garros in western Paris as police officers gave instructions to cordon off the area with the possibility of evacuating people. A few security officials sprinted down Boulevard d’Auteuil — a long road leading to one of the main entry gates — shouting into walkie-talkie radios.
A few minutes later, police revealed the cause of the noise: a fighter plane breaking the sound barrier.