The Austrian Dominic Thiemformer US Open champion, had an encounter with one of Australia’s most venomous snakes during his qualifying match this Saturday at Brisbane.
The former world number three was a set down against the Australian James McCabe20, in the first round of qualification when an amateur spotted the snake.
Only in Australia does this happen 🫣🐍
The match between Dominic Thiem 🇦🇹 and James McCabe 🇦🇺 had to be interrupted to capture a snake that got onto the field
— Iván Aguilar (@ivabianconero) December 30, 2023
Security personnel quickly arrived, but the umpire had to stop the match because the snake He headed to the field to the surprise of players and fans.
“I really love animals, especially exotic ones,” Thiem said. “But they say it was a really poisonous snake and it was close to the ball boys, so it was a very dangerous situation.”
“It’s something that has never happened to me and it’s something that I will surely never forget,” added the 30-year-old tennis player.
Dominic Thiem overcomes the incident
The snake—identified as a 50 centimeter eastern brown snake and which is one of the deadliest reptiles—was safely removed and the encounter resumed.
But Thiem was not out of the woods yet and had to save three match points before tying the match to win the second set in a tiebreaker. The 30-year-old tennis player confirmed the victory in the third set for 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The Austrian is currently 98th in the world after several years of a complicated wrist injury.
Dominic Thiem reached the final of Australian Open in 2020 when it led to Novak Djokovic until a fifth set and the following year he won the US Open.
EVG
2023-12-31 02:29:21
#VIDEO #Snake #interrupts #Dominic #Thiems #game #Brisbane #tournament
