A poisonous snake burst into the middle of the Brisbane ATP that will mark Nadal’s return

The classification of ATP 250 from Brisbane, Australiacould have gone unnoticed on Saturday: it is its outcome that officially launches the 2024 season. However, an unusual – and unexpected – presence overshadowed the Spaniard’s budding return Rafael Nadal to the fields.

The local James McCabe had won the first set 6-2 against the Austrian Dominic Thiem when he entered the scene, crawling along the side of the court between the lighting cables and in view of the spectators, a poisonous snake that became the center of the scene.

The match was stopped and took about 40 minutes to resume after a snake catcher managed to capture the intruder and lock him in a bag.

It was later discovered that it was an eastern brown snake, whose scientific name is pseudonaja textilis, capable of inflicting powerful bites and whose venom can cause progressive paralysis and uncontrollable bleeding.

Australia is home to 20 of the 25 most venomous species in the world, but despite this fact, deaths from their bites are rare.

The forced break seemed to favor Thiem, US Open champion in 2020, who managed to reverse the score and ended up winning 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4 after two hours and 52 minutes of play.

The Austrian will now face the Italian Giulio Zeppieri, who beat the local Omar Jasika 7-5 and 6-3, and will seek passage to the main draw of the competition.

The tournament will mark the return to the circuit of Spaniard Rafael Nadal, former world number one, after a prolonged absence. The 37-year-old tennis player played his last match at this year’s Australian Open before undergoing two operations to correct an injury.

The Spaniard had announced his return to the competition for Tuesday the 2nd but he will bring forward his return and will participate in doubles together with Marc López, making his debut against the Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the same Spanish couple won the gold medal.

This will be Nadal’s first doubles match since he played Roger Federer in the Swiss’s farewell match at the Laver Cup in September 2022.

“I’m better than I thought a month ago, but today I feel that playing is already a triumph, although it is impossible for me to assume that I can win a tournament,” the Spaniard confessed the day before, throbbing his return to the ring.

In singles, Nadal will have to wait for the result of the qualifying to find out who will be his first rival in the run-up to the first Grand Slam of the season.

The Argentine Diego Schwartzman could be one of Nadal’s rivals in the first round of the tournament, since he began with a victory in qualifying. El Peque won 6-2 and 6-4 against the Australian Jacob Bradshaw. Francisco Comesaña did not suffer the same fate, who was eliminated after losing 7-6 (7-1), 5-7 and 7-6 (7-3) against the Australian Li Tu.

Schwartzman, 31, now has Leonardo Olguín as his coach, who had been his coach between 2016 and 2021. The Argentine imposed his favorite status on Bradshaw, managed to go 2-0 against a nervous 21-year-old rival, and now has 5-1 advantage, to finally win the initial set 6-2.

In the second set, Schwartzman again achieved a quick 2-0, the support of his people encouraged the local team to lead 2-3, but the Argentine managed to dominate the actions despite Bradshaw’s desire and won 6-4.