Dominic Thiem has experienced some dramatic matches throughout his career – but none like his opening qualifying round today at Brisbane International 2024.
After a dropping the first set against an inspired Australian wildcard, the match was interrupted when a snake slithered onto court.
“I really love animals, especially exotic ones,” Thiem said. “But they said it was a really poisonous snake and it was close to the ballkids, so it was a really dangerous situation.
“It’s something that has never happened to me and is something I’ll definitely never forget.”
After the snake was safely removed, Thiem found himself in a precarious position when play resumed.
His 20-year-old opponent, James McCabe, raced to a 6-2 5-3 40-0 lead and was on the verge of claiming his first top-100 win.
“He was playing very well. He was serving extremely well I thought,” Thiem said.
Yet the US Open 2020 champion dug deep to keep his qualifying quest alive, fighting back to record a steely 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 victory.
“It was a good win in the end,” the former world No.3 said.
“Wins like today are really important. I didn’t feel amazing on court, but still pulled out the win.”
The fifth-seeded Thiem now faces Italian Giulio Zeppieri in the final qualifying round tomorrow.
> READ: Nadal, Stephens and Popyrin to headline day one at Brisbane International 2024
Top-seeded Czech Tomas Machac, Argentine Diego Schwartzman and American Maxime Cressy also advanced in the men’s qualifying singles competition.
In the final round of the women’s qualifying singles event, Queensland’s Olivia Gadecki secured a main-draw spot with a commanding 6-3 6-2 victory against ninth seed Valeria Savinykh.
Other qualifiers include Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, Hungary’s Timea Babos and American Hailey Baptiste.
> VIEW: Brisbane International women’s qualifying singles results