The Miami Open match between German Tommy Haas and Czech Jiri Vesely had to be stopped for several minutes on Wednesday when an iguana climbed on the top of a baseline scoreboard.
The reptile was spotted taking in the action midway through the final set of the match, which ended with Vesely prevailing 7:6 (7:5), 3:6, 5:7.
While some people seemed to be concerned by the unexpected guest, Haas took a closer look at the reptile, and snapped a memorable selfie which he later posted on Instagram.
Court staff tried to remove the reptile from the scoreboard, grabbing it by the tail in the hope of dragging it away, but ended up scaring it off.
The lizard jumped down to run all the way to the opposite side of the court, before climbing on top of another scoreboard, where it was finally captured and the match could proceed.
“Maybe the iguana got to know that it was most likely my last time playing here, and he wanted to say ‘hi,’” 39-year-old Haas said at the post-match press conference.
The German also referred to his impending retirement when explaining his decision to take a photo with the lizard.
“I thought it was an interesting picture to take. Especially that my career is almost over.”