Former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem started his season on Saturday and had to work hard to win. First the game was suspended due to a poisonous snake crawling onto the court, then the Austrian had to save three match points.
Thiem (ATP 98) met Australian James McCabe (ATP 272) in a qualifying match of the ATP 250 tennis tournament in Brisgane, and the 20-year-old McCabe, playing in front of the home crowd, achieved a convincing 6-6 victory 2 in the opening set.
However, in the second set, a funny incident occurred, when an eastern Australian brown snake, which is one of the reptiles with the most venomous bite in the world, was spotted at the side of the court. In typical Australian fashion, local snake catchers were then called in to remove the errant snake.
You can’t make this up: A 50cm eastern brown snake — considered the second most venomous snake in the world — disrupted Thiem-McCabe qualifying battle in Brisbane
(video via Lblklk on Reddit) pic.twitter.com/QI5izBr6HN
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lancia (@gasparlanca) December 30, 2023
The match then continued with a tied set, but the young Australian had a chance to win the match with a lead of 5:3. Thiem saved three match points and took the set to the final match, where he won 7:4. In the third set the men traded victories until 4:4, when the former third racket won two consecutive games 2:6, 7:6 (4), 6:4.
“I really like animals, especially exotic ones,” Thiem said after the match. “But they said it was a very poisonous snake and it was very close to the ball kids, so it was a very dangerous situation. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, I definitely won’t forget it.”
Thiem will play against Italian Giulio Zeppier for a place in the Brisbane qualifiers.
The Brisbane tournament will finally see the return of Rafael Nadal (ATP 672), who has been struggling with injuries for some time, and the competition Holger Rune (ATP 8), Grigor Dimitrov (ATP 14) and Ben Shelton (ATP 17). .
The women’s tournament will also see a great return as four-time Slam champion Naomi Osaka returns to the court after becoming a mother. Furthermore, the world second ranked Arina Sabalenka, the fourth Jelena Rõbakina and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (13th WTA) will start the season.
2023-12-30 15:09:00
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