A Thursday afternoon quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev at the BNP Paribas Open had to be suspended due to some unwelcome guests at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The unwanted guests? A swarm of bees.
A giant swarm of bees.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Bees
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 14, 2024
Advantage, bees. #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/2fLBWHKYyi
Match officials had no choice but to finally suspend the match.
Play has been suspended due to bee invasion. #IndianWells
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2024
Alcaraz, Zverev, the chair umpire and fans all had to take cover as bees swarmed the court for more than an hour.
After the 45 minutes of the delay a beekeeper showed up and calmly started vacuuming the bees off of a camera.
An American hero #IndianWells | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/91owMnJoNi
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2024
Alcaraz won the event a year ago. He did not have to deal with bees on his way to that championship.
None of the other matches at the tournament on Thursday were impacted by the bees.
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