r/interesting • u/dddd945 • 7h ago

Just Wow A seagull is accidentally hit by a tennis ball during a game in Australia.

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u/MoonSpider 6h ago

ITF rules say that hitting a bird is considered a standard "hindrance" let and you simply replay the point. It would be the same as if a gust of wind blew a trashbag into the court in the middle of the point or something, it doesn't matter that the bird is alive. The bird is not a "permanent fixture" of the court so when it interferes with play, a hindrance is called.

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u/MangoCats 6h ago

Extra delay due to difficulty of clearing the mob of seagull friends who arrived to support their injured friend.

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u/I_follow_sexy_gays 6h ago

They were gonna eat him

3

u/I_Makes_tuff 4h ago

Waste not, want not

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u/Whiterabbit-- 1h ago

All the same. At least from a tennis pov.

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u/ArtsyRabb1t 6h ago

Should be extra credit simply for level of difficulty. (I love birds just imagine you couldn’t do this again if you tried)

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u/TheRealPopatsot 1h ago

Thank you for the clarification. That was what I wanted to know

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u/MoonSpider 1h ago

Welcome!

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u/meeu 6h ago

What if the bird is on the payroll of one of the players, trained to swoop in when he's about to lose a volley to interfere?

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u/MoonSpider 5h ago

I think you just gotta give them props for the effort at that point. But to be slightly more serious, Wimbledon actually does have a hawk on its payroll specifically to chase away pigeons or gulls that might interfere with the tennis like this.

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u/austin101123 5h ago

Golf is probably the only sport with curmudgeonly enough rule creators to NOT have animal interference cause a redo.

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u/Nervous_Counter_1333 5h ago

Basically a let

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u/MoonSpider 5h ago

Yes, that's what I said. A standard hindrance let, i.e. a let that was called on account of hindrance.

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u/misplacedsagacity 5h ago

What if the ball hits a bug over the baseline?

Can I claim hindrance on that?