Play during qualifying for the Brisbane International was briefly suspended on Saturday as a deadly snake slithered its way onto the court.
Austrian gun Dominic Thiem was under the pump in the second set against Aussie young gun James McCabe when fans first noticed the 50cm eastern brown in the stands.
The snake then slithered onto the court and the umpire suspended play until a snake catcher could come and relocate him.
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At the time, Thiem was down a set and a break in the second set when the snake came out.
He looked all but done facing three match points at 3-5, 0-40 in the second set but somehow saved all three points, got the break back and then won the tiebreak.McCabe was unable to regain the upper hand in the third set, with Thiem eventually emerging victorious 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
"I really love animals, especially exotic ones," Thiem said after the match.
"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.
"He [McCabe] was playing very well. He was serving extremely well I thought ... it was a good win in the end."
A troublesome wrist injury and horror run of results has seen Thiem fall outside the top 300, forcing him to come through qualifying for Brisbane.
Having missed the main-draw cutoff by one place, he will have to do the same for the Australian Open unless saved by a late withdrawal.
