A highly venomous snake interrupted play during Dominic Thiem’s victory against James McCabe at the Brisbane International qualifying event.
Former US Open champion Thiem was a set down to Australian McCabe when the snake was spotted near the courtside electrical wires.
A 40-minute break in play followed while the reptile was safely removed by a professional snake catcher.
The animal was identified as a highly venomous eastern brown snake and was approximately 50cm in length.
Following the delay, Thiem recovered to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and advance to the second and final round of qualifying for the Brisbane International.
Former world number one Rafael Nadal will mark his return in Brisbane today in a doubles match alongside Marc Lopez.
