A venomous snake compelled a 40-minute delay to Dominic Thiem’s match with James McCabe in Brisbane.
The pair had been going head-to-head within the first spherical of qualifying to get to the primary draw of the occasion.
McCabe had take the primary set earlier than a extremely venomous jap brown snake, round 50cm lengthy, was noticed close to some courtside electrical wires.
Play was stopped for round 40 minutes whereas an expert snake catcher eliminated the animal from the court docket.
After the break, former US Open winner Thiem got here again to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and superior to the second spherical of qualifying.
“I actually love animals, particularly unique ones,” Thiem stated afterwards.
“But they stated it was a extremely toxic snake and it was near the ball children, so it was a extremely harmful scenario.
“It’s one thing that has by no means occurred to me and is one thing I’ll undoubtedly always remember.”
Thiem can be anticipated to enter Australian Open qualifying after seeing his rating drop by harm.
Also returning in Australia would be the likes of Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu.
Nadal will play a qualifer or fortunate loser in Brisbane, whereas Osaka has drawn Tamara Korpatsch.
British star Raducanu will make her comeback after eight months out on the Auckland Classic.
