#3 Snakes on a Court
Florida is the land of reptiles with its climate, and lizards are a common sight here. But we bet these two tennis players did not anticipate the visitor who greeted them on court! At a 2016 ATP Challenger event in Sarasota, Florida, players Gonzalo Lama of Chile and Great Britain’s James Ward were locked in a first-round contest.
Lama, having overpowered Ward through the match, had raced to match point when players and organizers heard hissing noises as a snake made its way onto the hard courts.
Tournament volunnteers scrambled to take immediate action, but the snake had other plans. An organizer attempted to pick up the snake with his bare hands when the reptile responded by hissing and snapping back at him.
It eventually escaped back into the bushes around the court – but gave the players an experience – and the volunteer quite the scare!
