Chaos at the Australian Open 2024 as SEAGULL delays match at Margaret Court Arena
- A seagull caused an Australian Open match to be postponed
- Dominic Thiem and Felix Auger Aliassime were visibly frustrated
- But fans at Margaret Court Arena found the incident hilarious
There were chaotic scenes late Monday night at the Australian Open when a first-round match was postponed due to an unexpected visitor.
Felix Auger Aliassime was momentarily stunned when, lining up to produce a second serve, he saw a seagull land at the other end of the court, where Dominic Thiem was waiting to return to the Margaret Court Arena.
The large bird waddled across the field and picked up an insect before flying in circles around the field, much to the amusement of the crowd.
“He wants a front row seat, he heard things are going well here,” the commentator said. “I mean, how are we going to get this guy out of here?
A seagull temporarily stopped playing at the Australian Open on Monday evening
“He likes being the star of the show.”
Tennis reporter Stuart Fraser tweeted: ‘The game has been postponed at Margaret Court Arena due to a seagull flying around the stadium. It’s a quarter past midnight.’
The match went down to fifth after 1am despite tournament organizers introducing measures to curb late finishes that dominated last year’s event.