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The Australian Open match between Cameron Norrie and Alexander Zverevwas delayed on three occasions due to birds pooing on the court. At one point, Zverev even took it into his own hands by grabbing a towel from the umpire and cleaning up the mess left by birds sat atop the court roof.

The ball boys were called upon to clear up the muck from the local birds hovering overhead the first couple of times. But on the third time, Zverev took matters into his own hands by grabbing a towel and wiping his side of the court himself as baffled TNT Sports commentator Jodie Burrage said: "I don't know what they can do about this."

On the second delay, Zverev spoke to the ball boy and was heard saying: "If you want me to do it, I can do it." The ball boy continued and cleaned up, but after just one more point, Zverev raised the issue again and took matters into his hands by grabbing a towel and cleaning up in a bizarre moment.

Mikey Perera, who was commentating for TNT Sports on the match, said: "I mean, this is the natural world. Zverev is going to take things into his own hands here."

When Zverev was finished, Perera added: "Well done," with sections of the crowd cheering and clapping.

The third stoppage was at 5-3 to Zverev, and with the German 15-0 up on Norrie's serve. As the British player went to continue playing, Burridge added: "It is quite distracting for Norrie, with this scoreline."

Zverev went on to break serve and therefore claim the third set. That put the third seed two sets to one up in the match and on the verge of an impressive victory.

The German took that momentum into the fourth set, quickly taking a 5-0 lead to put Norrie on the edge of elimination. The number 26 seed was the final British player remaining in the Grand Slam.

With just two points needed to take the match, Zverev again grabbed a towel to clean up his side of the court. The birds could be heard making noise as players prepared to serve.

Zverev went on to win the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and end British hopes at Melbourne Park.

Norrie was looking to break a record of six losses in a row against his opponent, but he will now have to wait until the next meeting with the record extended to seven.

The meeting was the second year in a row that Norrie has come up against Zverev in the Australian Open. Last year, the Brit pushed the German to five sets, with a tie-breaker in the fifth needed to separate the two at the last 16 stage.