Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem 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, with the Austrian losing the first set 2-6. But the 30-year-old’s ultimately successful fightback was put on hold when courtside fans spotted a snake.
Security staff were called in and the umpire had to temporarily stop play when the snake slithered on to Show Court 2. A snake catcher eventually captured the reptile – a 50cm eastern brown snake – and removed it from the venue, allowing play to resume.
Thiem saved three match points at 3-5 in the second set before winning it 7-6 (7-4) and forcing a decider which he won 6-4.
Thiem – whose ranking sank outside the top 300 as he battled injury and confidence issues, but has since climbed back to world No 98 – now needs to win another qualifier to make it through to the main draw in Brisbane. He is also due to play in qualifying for the Australian Open, having missed the cut-off for the main draw by one place.
Australians Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell will headline the start of the main draw on Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday night in the popular tournament’s first staging as a mixed gender showpiece since 2019.
Thanasi Kokkinakis will play up-and-comer Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson will meet Aleksandar Vukic – the pair ranked 55 and 62 respectively – no earlier than Monday after the draw was revealed on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal will play a qualifier in his return from a long-term hip injury – also no sooner than Monday – while Max Purcell, who soared to 45 in the world this year, drew Denmark’s top-seeded world No 8 Holger Rune.
Andy Murray will face Grigor Dimitrov in a replay of the Brisbane 2013 final won by the Scot, while late wildcard Jason Kubler meets tough Russian Aslan Karatsev.
The top 16 women’s seeds have first-round byes but headliner Naomi Osaka’s first match back since the birth of her daughter in June will be against German world No 84 Tamara Korpatsch no sooner than Monday.
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Arina Rodionova, Australia’s top-ranked woman at No 114, begins her campaign against top-20 Italian talent Martina Trevisan on Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday, while wildcards Kimberly Birrell and Daria Saville will both face qualifiers in the first round.
A further 10 Australians could still land main draw spots if they progress through qualifying on Saturday and Sunday.
