A poisonous snake breaks into the middle of the Brisbane ATP which will mark Nadal’s return

The classification of Atp250 from Brisbane, Australiacould have gone unnoticed on Saturday: it is his result that officially kicks off the 2024 season. But an unusual – and unexpected – presence overshadowed the nascent return of the Spaniard Rafael Nadal to the fields.

Local James McCabe had won the first set 6-2 against Austrian Dominic Thiem when he entered the scene, crawling along the edge of the court between the lighting cables and under the eyes of the spectators, a venomous snake that took center stage.

The game was interrupted 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, deaths from their bites are rare.

The forced break seemed to favor Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, 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.

Nadal’s return

The tournament will mark the return of Spaniard Rafael Nadal, former world number one, to the circuit 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 competition for Tuesday 2nd but will bring forward his return and will participate in the doubles together with Marc López, making his debut against the Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. At the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, the same Spanish pair won the gold medal.

This will be Nadal’s first doubles match since facing Roger Federer in the Swiss’ 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, even if it’s impossible for me to think of being able to win a tournament”, the Spaniard had confessed the day before, trembling upon his return to the field. the ring.

In singles, Nadal will have to wait for the result of the qualifications to find out who his first rival will be ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season.

Schwartzman advances

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

Schwartzman, 31, now has as his coach Leonardo Olguín, who was his manager from 2016 to 2021. The Argentine imposed his favorite status on Bradshaw, managed to win 2-0 against a nervous 21-year-old rival, and now has a 5 -1 lead, to finally win the opening set 6-2.

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