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A Brisbane International qualifying match saw a 40-minute suspension on Saturday, December 30 (IST) due to a bizarre reason. The game played between Dominic Thiem and Australian James McCabe came to a halt after a snake made its way onto the court. McCabe had secured a 6-2 win in the first set over his counterpart, the 2020 US Open champion. Just after that, a snake was spotted among the wires alongside the court by the spectators.
The sighting prompted the officials to temporarily suspend the game and call the security staff for assistance. After that, a specialist was called in to catch an eastern brown snake. As identified by local media, the 50cm-long snake belonged to one of the most poisonous species. The unexpected turn of events extended the delay in the game by 40 minutes. After the match, Thiem made a comeback in the second set and went on to clinch the victory 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
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The win secured him an entry to the pre-Australian Open tournament’s main draw. After the match, he said, "I really love animals, especially exotic ones. But they said it was a really poisonous snake and it was close to the ball kids, so it was a really dangerous situation. It's something that has never happened to me and is something I'll definitely never forget.”
Talking about the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open 2024 is set to begin on January 14, Sunday, in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament, like each edition, will have top tennis stars fighting to clinch the title trophy. The forthcoming edition of the Grand Slam will see a return of tennis stars, Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka. While both Nadal and Osaka will hope for a favourable comeback tournament, 24 Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic will aim for a record-breaking 25th win.
