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Dominic Thiem of Austria in motion in opposition to James McCabe of Australia throughout their qualifying spherical match of Brisbane International, at Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Australia, 30 December 2023.
CNN
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Tennis star Dominic Thiem’s opening qualfying spherical on the Brisbane International match on Saturday was something however routine – the 30-year-old Austrian got here near dropping his match in opposition to Australian James McCabe, which was interrupted by a snake slithering onto the courtroom.
“I really love animals, especially exotic ones,” former US Open champion Thiem advised the Brisbane International web site. “But they stated it was a extremely toxic snake and it was near the ballkids, so it was a extremely harmful state of affairs.
“It’s something that has never happened to me and is something I’ll definitely never forget.”
According to the ATP web site, the japanese brown snake made its method onto courtroom on the finish of the primary set, and a snake catcher was required to take away it.
The japanese brown snake is the reason for “more deaths from snake bite than any other species of snake in Australia,” in keeping with the Australian Museum web site.
The species of snake is widespread “throughout eastern Australia … and frequently encountered on the suburban periphery of many large towns and cities,” stated the Australian Museum on its web site.
“What the snake lacks in venom delivery it makes up for in potency … successful envenomation can result in progressive paralysis and uncontrollable bleeding.”
William West/AFP/Getty Images
A lethal Australia japanese brown snake is photographed in Sydney on this 2012 file picture. The species of the snake is widespread all through japanese Australia, in keeping with the Australian Museum web site.
At one stage of the match, the 20-year-old McCabe held a 6-2 5-3 40-0 lead over Thiem and seemed to be on the verge of gorgeous the previous world No. 3 and securing his first top-100 win.
But Thiem, who’s now No. 98 on this planet rankings, survived three match factors and recovered to say a 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 victory after a two-hour, 53-minute match in opposition to McCabe on the Queensland Tennis Centre.
“It was a good win in the end,” Thiem advised the Brisbane International web site. “He was enjoying very nicely. He was serving extraordinarily nicely I believed.
“Wins like today are really important. I didn’t feel amazing on court, but still pulled out the win.”
