Watch moment a SQUIRREL runs on court and forces point to be replayed causing chaos at US Open
A US OPEN match descended into chaos when a SQUIRREL ran on to the court.
And the rogue rodent’s appearance forced a point to be replayed.
Laura Siegemund – off the back of her drama-filled defeat in the singles to Coco Gauff – has teamed up with Vera Zvonareva in the women’s doubles.
The No12 seeds took on Belgian pair Greet Minnen and Yanina Wickmayer in round two on Saturday evening.
But the quartet were left baffled when the umpire suddenly called a let early in the second set.
Siegemund and Zvonareva were about to win the point with a simple volley putaway.
But the call had come because the umpire had spotted the squirrel, which had made its way on to the back of Court 5 behind Minnen and Wickmayer.
Any distraction or outside interference immediately calls for a point to be stopped and restarted – and that includes unexpected furry visitors.
The US Open TV cameras then zoomed in on the lost squirrel as it scurried about before trying to jump the advertising hoardings.
It needed a second attempt to get up, scaling the wall and making its escape.
One laughing commentator said: “Oh my gosh, there’s a squirrel. This match has now had a little bit of everything.
Her colleague added: “Doesn’t want to go that way. I say my good man do you have a ticket?”
And tennis fans watching on at home could barely believe their eyes – as they referenced the time a giant iguana halted play in Miami in 2017.
One tweeted: “Hahaha that’s hilarious. Trying to get a better view I think!”
Another wrote: “Just too cute!”
And a third typed: “Poor thing. He looks scared.”
The squirrel is the latest bizarre reason for play to be halted at the US Open this week.
Dan Evans paused his clash with Carlos Alcaraz to get rid of a random intruder from his player box.
And the pair burst into laughter when a fan dropped a catch in the crowd – then responded by downing his beer.
Elsewhere, Christopher Eubanks ran off court in the middle of a point and forfeited a game to race to the bathroom so he could deal with his stomach issues.