Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has had to battle two Aussie opponents in the first round of qualifying for the Brisbane International, with a deadly snake forcing the suspension of play.
The former world No.3 was taking on Australian youngster James McCabe on Saturday, the Austrian veteran saving three match points before prevailing 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
The 30-year-old Thiem was under the pump in the second set when fans courtside spotted a snake.
Security staff were called in, but the umpire had to temporarily stop play when the snake slithered on to the court.
A snake catcher eventually captured the reptile - a deadly 50cm eastern brown - and removed it from the venue, allowing play to resume.
Thiem looked down and out at 3-5, 0-40 on McCabe's serve.
But he saved all three match points and forced a tiebreak before eventually prevailing to move within one victory of the main draw.
“I really love animals, especially exotic ones,” Thiem said after the great escape.
“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 it's something I’ll definitely never forget.”
“He (McCabe) was playing very well. He was serving extremely well I thought ... it was a good win in the end."
Thiem reached the final of the Australian Open in 2020 when he pushed champion Novak Djokovic to five sets, and won the US Open later that year.
The Austrian downed local hope Nick Kyrgios in the third round at Melbourne Park in 2021, but his career went into free-fall due to a troublesome wrist injury and flagging confidence.
Thiem has only reached the second round at a grand slam once since then, making it through the first round at Flushing Meadows this year.
His ranking sank outside the top 300, but he has climbed back to world No.98.
Thiem will rely on late withdrawals to avoid qualifying for the Australian Open, having missed the cut-off for the main draw by one place.
