Emma Raducanu soared past Shelby Rogers in straight sets to reach the second round of the Australian Open, but not all went smoothly due to a runaway insect.
The 21-year-old put her 2024 Grand Slam campaign into focus with the 6-3, 6-2 victory over her American counterpart in just 76 minutes.
But a small problem arose in the second set in the form of a streetwise Australian creature, which hopped around the court for about a minute before finally being apprehended.
Play stopped and Raducanu watched as a ball boy chased the daring intruder around the Rod Laver Arena pitch.
The cunning creature waited for the girl to approach him before fleeing at just the right moment to evade capture, but eventually his luck ran out.
Emma Raducanu’s first round match against Shelby Rogers was briefly interrupted due to a bug
A ball girl eventually managed to catch the brazen intruder and take him to safety outside the field
After winning the cat-and-mouse game, the ball boy wrapped the animal in a towel before taking it to safety off the field.
The Bug is unlikely to face any punitive action for the court invasion, despite taking a free front row seat before paying spectators.
As for Raducanu, the draw has opened up somewhat for her as she will now face world number 94, Yafan Wang of China, who upset her opponent, number 22 seed Sorana Cirstea.
Playing her first Slam since this event last year, Raducanu had to be solid against Rogers, who hasn’t played since Wimbledon and has made the kind of mistakes you’d expect after such a long absence.
Raducanu took advantage of the American’s 35 unforced errors, but served well towards the end and never looked in danger.
In the end, she put up three match points but only needed one to book her place in the second round, which she reached in 2022 and 2023.
A total of 35 unforced errors from Rogers made Raducanu’s first round less troubling than expected
Elsewhere, compatriots Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie secured safe passage to the second round.
However, Andy Murray lost in straight sets to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in what could be his Australian Open swan song.
Murray was still in the top 50 until this week