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Iguana halts Miami Open, poses for selfie, runs across court

By Ben Hooper

Special selfie @miamiopen , thanks for coming out to watch some Tennis 🎾🦎

A post shared by tommy haas (@tommyhaasofficial) on

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March 23 (UPI) -- An iguana became the unlikely breakout star of the Miami Open tennis tournament when it perched on the scoreboard, posed for a selfie, and ran across the court.

A video tweeted by the official account for the Miami Open shows play halted Wednesday during the final set of Jiri Vesely's victory over Tommy Haas while officials work on a plan to eject the non-ticket-holding lizard from atop an electronic scoreboard.

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German player Haas walks over to the scoreboard and snaps a selfie with the iguana, eliciting loud cheers from the crowd.

An official attempts to grab the iguana with a towel, but the fleet-footed animal pulls free of the man's grip and bolts across the tennis court -- eventually coming to a rest on the electronic scoreboard on the other side of the court.

A worker is then able to use a towel to grab the iguana by its tail and carry it outside.

The Miami Open used a Notorious B.I.G. parody to describe the situation: "Iggy, Iggy, Iggy, can't you see? Keep off the tennis court, please."

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Haas posted his selfie to Instagram.

"Special selfie @miamiopen , thanks for coming out to watch some Tennis," he wrote.

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