A tennis match at an ATP Challenger event in Dublin was forced to stop after a seagull landed on the court and began wreaking havoc. Ireland's Conor Gannon was coming up against Bernard Tomic in the Irish capital, during a match that lasted almost three hours.
The Challenger Tour is the second-highest tier of men's professional tennis, sitting just below the ATP Tour. Gannon lost the first set 6-7, but bounced back superbly to take the second 6-4, which meant the match was forced into a decider.
In what has been described as the biggest shock of the tournament so far, Gannon triumphed 7-6 in the third to send the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist packing. But it was not just Gannon that the defeated Tomic had to deal with during this match, as during the first set a seagull landed on the court and stole his food.
It happened as Gannon was getting ready to serve, with the daring seagull edging ever closer to the player's equipment area. Tomic had left a banana out on the side, and the bird sensed an opportunity, but by the time the Australian could react, it had flown away with his snack.
But remarkably, that was not where the drama ended, as no sooner had the first seagull nicked the banana, another got involved and tried to steal it themselves. It sparked a reaction of laughter from the crowd, and even Tomic was able to see the funny side.
The former world number 17 was not laughing by the end of the day, though, as the German-born ace was left stunned by Gannon's heroics. The two had a gap of nearly 900 places between them, but such a perceived gulf in class counted for nothing.
It comes as the grass swing gets into full swing, and on the ATP Tour, the men's Queen's tournament got underway earlier this week. However, much like last week's women's event, it was blighted by the miserable Great British weather.
Alex de Minaur is the number one seed, as reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz is still out with an injury, while world number one Jannik Sinner has opted to sit the tournament out. In last week's women's event, Emma Raducanu lost to Donna Vekic in the final during what was just her third-ever WTA final.
