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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.
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.
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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