Posted on 12/30/2023 10:09:23 AM PST by BenLurkin
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.
"I really love animals, especially exotic ones," Thiem said afterwards.
"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 is something I'll definitely never forget."
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Some tennis tournaments have obstacles.
Australia: everything wants to kill you.
Athletes are such wimps these days. The 1904 St Louis Marathon featured a pack of wild dogs.
THE exception to that rule, is Oz.
How very prophetic.
Even the animals that can’t still want to!
Lets have deadly snakes on the court...🤓
I’ve worked with venomous snakes before. An Eastern Brown is beyond my experience.
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