Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has survived a swarm of bees to defeat sixth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 after their BNP Paribas Open quarter-final was delayed for nearly two hours on Thursday night.
With the Spaniard serving at 1-1 in the first set the bees invaded the court area, stands and covered cameras in Indian Wells. The umpire Mohamed Lahyani suspended the match and the players retreated into the tunnel, swatting bees away as they went.
The most BEE-ZARRE thing you'll ever see!! 🐝#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/OAHe0lIMpB
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 14, 2024
A man attempted to vacuum some bees off the camera equipment while play was suspended.
The hero we didn't know we needed 🐝🙋♂️#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/FNRKWZZGJV
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2024
The match had only been going for 19 minutes when the bees disrupted play, and eventually resumed after one hour and 48 minutes. Alcaraz sealed the victory by breaking the German for the fourth time and taking his winning streak in the Californian desert to 10 matches.
“It was strange, I’ve never seen something like that at a tennis match,” Alcaraz said of the bees. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit afraid of the bees. Once the match started again, I managed to stay away from the bees and do the things I needed to do.”
Alcaraz will face Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals after the Italian defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 to continue his 16-match winning streak this year.
A windy, cool day did little to slow down the hottest player on the men’s tour as Sinner was in control throughout, facing a single break chance the entire contest while his opponent piled up unforced errors. “In the morning, it was really, really windy,” Sinner said after the match. “The first set was tough to handle.
“He has huge potential so I was really aware of every point that I made and in a way I am just happy because I make the semi-finals last year and this year I have again a chance to play in the semis in one of the greatest tournaments we have throughout the whole year.”
Women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek said she was glad she was not on the court when the bees flew in. “That’s crazy,” she said in her post-match press conference. “There was nothing like [that] 30 minutes ago. I would run away!”
Swiatek earlier reached the semi-finals when former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark retired in the second set of their quarter-final. Wozniacki, who won at Indian Wells in 2011, held a 4-1 lead in the first set before Swiatek rallied for a 6-4 win.
Wozniacki took a medical time-out in between sets for a foot issue, then played just one game in the second set before pulling out of the match. Swiatek, seeking her second title at Indian Wells in three years, won the match 6-4, 1-0.
“I have huge respect for her,” Swiatek said. “I’m sad that it had to finish that way, but I hope she is going to recover and be ready for Miami.” Next up for Swiatek in the semi-finals will be No 31 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who beat No 28 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-0, 7-5 in just 68 minutes.
