Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem had his match within the first spherical of qualifying for the Brisbane International interrupted by a lethal snake on Saturday.
One of essentially the most toxic snakes in Australia made its means onto the courtroom throughout the match between Thiem and James McCabe.
The umpire put the sport on maintain after spectators noticed the 50-centimetre brown snake from the stands. The animal was faraway from the venue by a snake catcher and no one was harmed within the incident.
The play was then allowed to renew and Thiem claimed a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 win.
“I actually love animals, particularly unique ones. But it was a extremely toxic snake and it was close to the ball youngsters, so it was a extremely harmful scenario,” Thiem mentioned.
“Something like this has by no means occurred to me earlier than, it is one thing I’ll undoubtedly always remember,” he added.