A FIRST round match at the Miami Open was bizarrely interrupted as an IGUANA casually crawled onto court.
The second Masters 1000 event of the year got underway in Florida yesterday.
Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Polina Kudermetova took to Court 7 for a first round encounter that initially didn’t exactly jump off the draw sheet.
But the match went on to have its memorable moments, not least when it was briefly paused due to one spectator getting a little too close to the action.
Two points into the deciding third set, an iguana made its way across the tramlines and onto the court.
Both players were made to wait as the reptile was shooed away with an umbrella.
With Florida natives more used to reptilian adventures than most, there was little panic from the crowd.
When the iguana left the court, the match was able to swiftly get back underway.
Kudermetova, 21, had just taken the second set 7-6 to level up the match after Ruse had won the first 6-1.
The Romanian, 27, recovered from the setback to win the deciding third set 6-2.
The world No.50 will now take on 29th seed Magdalena Frech in round two.
Elsewhere on day one, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka returned to winning ways by beating Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6 6-4 6-3.
The Japanese former world No.1 was playing just her second match since suffering an injury at the Australian Open, having dubbed her Indian Wells defeat to Camila Osorio as her “worst performance ever”.
Elsewhere, Emma Raducanu will get her campaign underway later today as she faces teenage wildcard Sayaka Ishii.
While British No.1 Katie Boulter is set to take on Peyton Stearns.
There was British joy in the men’s qualifying event, as Jacob Fearnley and Billy Harris both made it through to the main draw.
Harris will face American wildcard Eliot Spizzirri later today, while Fearnley has drawn Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
Recent Indian Wells champion Jack Draper has a bye through round one and will open his campaign against the winner of Roberto Bautista Agut and Jakub Mensik.
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