Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem had to fight two Australian opponents in the first round of international qualifying in Brisbane when a deadly snake forced play to be suspended.
The former world number three faced Australian youngster James McCabe on Saturday, with the Austrian losing the first set 2-6. But the 30-year-old’s eventual successful fightback was put on hold when fans spotted a snake on the sidelines.
As the snake slithered toward Arena 2, security was called and the referee had to temporarily stop play. Snake catchers eventually captured the reptile – a 50cm long eastern brown snake – and removed it from the venue, allowing competition to resume.
Thiem saved three match points at 3-5 in the second set, then won 7-6 (7-4) and entered the decider with a 6-4 win.
Thiem’s ranking fell outside the top 300 due to injuries and confidence issues, but has since risen to No. 98 in the world. Now he needs to win another qualifier to advance to the main draw in Brisbane. He was also due to qualify for the Australian Open, but missed the cutoff for the main draw by one place.
Australia’s Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell will compete in the main draw at Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday night. It is the first time since 2019 that the popular event will be staged in a mixed-gender format.
Thanasi Kokkinakis will face rising star Rinky Hijikata, while Jordan Thompson will face Aleksandar Vukic on Monday following Saturday’s draw. ), the two ranked 55th and 62nd respectively.
Rafael Nadal will play in qualifying – again no earlier than Monday – after recovering from a long-term hip injury, while Max Purcell, who has surged to world No. 45 this year The draw was Denmark’s top seed and world No. 8 Holger Rune.
Andy Murray will face Scot Grigor Dimitrov in a rematch of the 2013 Brisbane final, while late wildcard Jason Kubler will take on tough Russian Aslan ·Karatsev.
The top 16 women’s seeds received a first-round bye, but headliner Naomi Osaka will play her first match since giving birth to her daughter in June on Monday against Germany’s world number 84 Tamara Korpatsch.
Newsletter Promotion Post
Australia’s top-ranked Arina Rodionova, ranked 114th, will take on top-20 Italian talent Matti on Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena Martina Trevisan, while wildcards Kimberly Birrell and Daria Saville will all face qualifiers in the first round.
Another 10 Australian players could still secure a spot in the main draw if they progress through the qualifying rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
