Jack Draper’s round-of-16 tie with Luciano Darderi at the Vienna Open was disrupted after a rogue food delivery driver got lost.
It came at a pivotal point in the contest with the first set tied at two games apiece.
Darderi was preparing a serve when he was disturbed by the umpire, who shouted: “Bitte… bitte,” an exclamation in German directed towards the delivery driver.
“Yes you,” he continued, until the visibly confused person eventually got the hint that he needed to sit down.
The television directors quickly got wind of what was going on, with the cameras panning to the man sporting a bright orange Lieferando t-shirt – the Austrian equivalent of Just Eat.
The players concluded the game, which went the way of the Italian, before the delivery driver was able to successfully complete the order.
How or why a fast food delivery was ordered to the Wiener Stadthalle in the Austrian capital remains unknown, but it certainly sparked plenty of confusion online.
@c04d003021dd4f3 said: “Wouldn’t happen at Wimbledon.”
@pcaseysafc commented: “Umpire in Jack Draper’s current match in Austria just had to ask a spectator to sit down as he tried to sneak in carrying a large Just Eat food bag.”
The stunt didn’t appear to knock Draper off his stride, with the Brit taking the first set 5-7 before wrapping up the match with a 6-1 second set win.
There was a brief moment of frustration for the US Open semi-finalist though, with Draper smashing his racket to the floor after losing a first-set point.
Having slightly overcooked a forehand return, the 22-year-old threw his racket on the ground, before sheepishly picking it up and walking off with his tail between his legs.
Regardless, Draper will face the winner of Grigor Dimitrov, the No.3 seed, and Tomas Machac in the quarter-final tomorrow.
Elsewhere at the Vienna Open, Alexander Zverev and Lorenzo Musetti face off in the first quarter-final, with the winner of that tie due to play the victor in Draper’s last-eight clash.
Matteo Berrettini and Jakub Mensik have also progressed to the quarter-final stage and will play the winners of Karen Khachanov vs Brandon Nakashima and Flavio Cobolli vs Alex de Minaur respectively.
Action concludes with the final in Vienna on Sunday afternoon.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk