The former world number 3 played this morning against young Australian James McCabe and lost the first set 2-6, and was just about to return to the match when a snake appeared on the court. Security was called, the referee stopped the match, and the snake—which turned out to be an extremely venomous eastern brown rattlesnake about half a meter long—was eventually caught. The eastern brown snake, on the other hand, is a species of extremely poisonous snakes from the family, which is found in eastern and central Australia, as well as in New Guinea. It can grow up to 2 meters, and its poison is considered the second strongest in the world, right after the poison of the taipan. In Australia, cases of death after the bite of this snake are relatively common.