Carlos Alcaraz made a beeline for the exit after thousands of the insects swarmed centre court during his Indian Wells semi-final against Alexander Zverev on Thursday.
The Spaniard was about to serve at 1-1 in the first set when the bees started circling around the court and after making utile attempts to swat them away with his racket, Alcaraz ran for cover into the locker room.
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Lance Davis known as the ‘The Killer Bee Catcher’ saved the day at Indian Wells
Bemused umpire Mohamed Lahyani informed the crowd “we are having problems with bees” before confirming that play could not continue, announcing: “Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended due to bee invasion.”
Thousands of bees could also be seen under one of the spider cameras over the main court, while others hovered over the lenses of the TV cameras.
Alcaraz’s agent Albert Molina told reporters the defending champion was stung on his forehead before leaving the court.
The Indian Wells bee-catcher Lance Davis, who even has his own reality TV series, was summoned to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden where he used a hoover to clean them off wearing no protective clothing as part of the stadium court was evacuated.
The match resumed after a delay of one hour and 48 minutes when Alcaraz looked back at his best as he swatted aside Alexander Zverev to reach the semi-finals, setting up a clash with the in-form Jannik Sinner.
The 20-year-old Spaniard raced past Zverev 6-3 6-1 in little more than 90 minutes to keep his title defence on track.
“It was strange, I’ve never seen something like that at a tennis match,” Alcaraz said of the invasion 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.”
Robson: Alcaraz was sprinting off
Laura Robson on Sky Sports Tennis
“Zverev was saying ‘there’s no bees down my end’ but then you see how Alcaraz was dealing with it. He was sprinting off. The chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani was stung on the forehead as he was trying to suspend play but they actually sorted it pretty swiftly all things considered.
“The beekeeper turned up with no suit, no gloves, no nothing. He was a bit of a legend but I don’t understand how he wasn’t getting stung. They seemed to have sorted it.”
What would Swiatek do?
World No 1 Iga Swiatek joined the Sky Sports Tennis team where she was asked what she would do if she was attacked by a swam of bees. “Run away!” said the Pole.
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Iga Swiatek was asked what she would do if she was attacked by a swarm of bees…
Sinner continues winning streak
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Highlights of Jannik Sinner against Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals
Australian Open champion Sinner continued his perfect start to the season by cruising into the men’s semi-finals, dispatching Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-3 to improve his win-loss record this year to 16-0.
The Italian’s return to the final four in the California desert set up a rematch with Spain’s Alcaraz who ended his title bid at the same stage a year ago.
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 in his court-side interview. “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.”
Lehecka reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final with upset wins over fifth seed Andrey Rublev and 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas but had no answers for the lanky Australian Open champion.
Local hope Tommy Paul also reached the semi-finals with a 6-2 1-6 6-3 win over Casper Ruud.
He will play the winner of the remaining quarter-final between Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune.
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Sinner hit this thunderous backhand to set-up match point against Lehecka…
Tim Henman: Sinner feeling full of confidence
“Sinner is on a role isn’t he? His confidence is so high but the way that he’s able to execute his game plan and just give his opponents so little to get their teeth stuck into,” Henman told Sky Sports Tennis.
“He’s serving very well from the back of the court – it’s the the power from both wings. He’s put in some amazing performances. He must be feeling full of confidence.”
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