Venomous snake interrupts Dominic Thiem's Brisbane International victory

A highly venomous snake spotted near the courtside electrical wires interrupted Dominic Thiem's victory against James McCabe at the Brisbane International qualifying event on Saturday.

According to the BBC, a 40-minute break in play followed while the reptile was safely removed from the court by a professional snake catcher.

"I really love animals, especially exotic ones," Thiem said afterwards. "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."

The animal was identified as a highly venomous eastern brown snake and was approximately 50cm in length.

However, following the delay, Thiem recovered to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and advance to the second and final round of qualifying for the Brisbane International.

The 30-year-old Austrian tennis player, who has slipped to 98th in the world rankings after injury struggles, is also expected to play in the qualifying draw for the Australian Open, which kicks off on January 14.

Moreover, former world number one Rafael Nadal is also set to mark his return in Brisbane on Sunday (today) in a doubles match alongside Marc Lopez.

Meanwhile, the 22-time Grand Slam champion has been recovering from a hip injury that required surgery in June, earlier this year.

Naomi Osaka is also returning to tennis in the women's draw following her maternity leave and will face Tamara Korpatsch on Monday.