Crazy moment a FEATHER stops play as Zverev asks umpire 'are you insane?'

There was an extraordinary moment during the quarter-finals of the Australian Open when a let was called mid-rally because of a feather.

The incident took place during Alexander Zverev’s last-eight encounter with Tommy Paul on Rod Laver Arena, with the German a set up but a break down in the second set.

Paul, serving at 4-2 and deuce, sent a serve down, with the two players engaging and getting into the rally as a feather began to descend towards the court.

Chair umpire Nacho Forcadell called a let just as Zverev was hitting a sliced backhand, which understandably riled the world No. 2.

“What?!” Zverev cried as he almost sank to his knees in disbelief.

“Because of a feather? Are you insane? Because of a feather? I mean, what is this? Buddy, it’s a feather. There’s millions of them on the court. There’s one there, there’s one there, there’s one there.”

In the Eurosport commentary box, Miles Maclagan shared his sympathy with Zverev, who was very invested in what was a crucial part of the set and match.

“There’s a feather coming down or something?” noted Chris Bradnam.

“I must say, I’ve got some sympathy with Zverev this time around. Particularly as he was into the rally. We’ve had a feather cause a bit of drama before,” Maclagan replied.

“Where’s Rufus when you need him?” asked Bradnam, referring to the hawk at Wimbledon that deters pigeons from interfering with play at the All England Club.

Zverev continued his discussion with Forcadell, who tried to explain to the German that a let had to be played if something fell onto the court mid-point.

However, the second seed argued that it was just a feather, and that it was having no impact on the point up to then.

Ultimately, the incident would mean nothing for the result, with Zverev triumphing in four sets – actually turning the second set around to win it – 7-6(1) 7-6(0) 2-6 6-1.

Zverev will play the winner of the mouth-watering quarter-final clash between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

The German elaborated on the incident in his post-match press conference, continuing to complain about the stoppage.

“I’ve never had that before that we stop a point because of a feather,” he said.

“So that was new to me. Not sure it was a hindrance to anybody. It’s not like a hard object. Even if the tennis ball hits the feather, it doesn’t really change anything.

“It doesn’t change the trajectory of the ball or the bounce of the ball or anything like that.

“Maybe the umpire made the right call and maybe not. I have no idea.

“It was a bit frustrating because obviously Tommy then would get a first serve, and he won the point with that serve as well. I got a warning after that. So it was a bit much happening in that stage.”