FILE – Dominic Thiem, of Austria, returns a shot to Ben Shelton, of america through the second spherical of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Aug. 30, 2023, in New York. (AP Picture/Frank Franklin II, File)
BRISBANE, Australia — Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem had a brush with one in all Australia’s most venomous snakes throughout a qualifying match on the Brisbane Worldwide on Saturday.
The previous world No.3 was a set right down to 20-year-old Australian James McCabe in a primary spherical qualifying match when followers courtside noticed the snake.
Safety personnel rapidly arrived, however the umpire needed to cease play because the snake slithered on to the court docket to the shock of the gamers and followers.
“I actually love animals, particularly unique ones,” Thiem mentioned. “However they mentioned it was a extremely toxic snake and it was near the ballkids, so it was a extremely harmful state of affairs.
“It’s one thing that has by no means occurred to me and is one thing I’ll positively always remember.”
The snake — recognized as a 50 centimeter jap brown snake and one in all Australia’s most dangerous reptiles —was quickly safely eliminated permitting play to renew.
However Thiem was not but out of hazard as he needed to save three match factors earlier than leveling the match by successful the second set tiebreak. The 30-year-old then went on to clinch the deciding set for a 2-6. 7-6 (4), 6-4 win.
The Austrian, at present ranked No.98 after a number of years with a hard wrist harm, will face both Italian Giulio Zeppieri or one other Australian, Omar Jasika, within the last qualifying spherical tomorrow.
Thiem reached the ultimate of the Australian Open in 2020 when he pushed champion Novak Djokovic to 5 units, and gained the US Open later that 12 months.
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