New York school teacher, Daniel Verley, has been arrested for flying and crashing a drone into Louis Armstrong Stadium during a tennis match between 26th seed Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu at the US Open on Thursday evening.

The drone broke into pieces as it landed, interrupting the match as police and fire emergency personnel investigated.

Nobody was injured and the drone flew harmlessly into empty seating area of the stadium. Pennetta, however, feared the worst when the drone flew into the stadium and briefly interrupted the match.

"With everything going on in the world... I thought, 'OK, it's over.' That's how things happen," Ms Pennetta, 33, told Associated Press news agency.

Pennatta defeated her Romanian opponent Niculescu to seal entry into the third round of this year's tournament.