Carlos Alcaraz, presently ranked second within the ATP, is unafraid of any adversary. As he strives to reclaim the highest spot from Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard confronted an sudden problem this afternoon throughout his quarterfinal match on the Indian Wells Masters 1000.
The match between Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev needed to be suspended within the third recreation, with the rating tied at 1-1, resulting from an invasion of bees.
Alcaraz was about to serve when chair umpire Mohamed Layhani alerted him to the hazard of serving amidst the bees. At 15-0 within the third recreation, Alcaraz was stung on the aspect of his brow by one of many bees.
Albert Molina, Alcaraz’s agent, confirmed to MARCA that the match would resume in 40 minutes after the bees have been eliminated with the help of a beekeeper.
“Carlos is in peril,”Layhani warned Alcaraz, who rapidly ran to his group’s nook, grabbed a towel to swat away the bees, and sought refuge within the locker room tunnel. Zverev and the road judges adopted go well with, leaving the court docket.
Throughout the pause, Zverev entertained himself by taking part in soccer within the gamers’ warm-up space. In the meantime, event proprietor Larry Ellison tried to take care of a way of normalcy by sitting in one of many bins.
The bees had not solely taken over the court docket but in addition the cameras, together with the Spidercam, positioned all through the venue.
As followers appeared on, terrified by the bizarre interruption, the stadium announcer lightened the temper with a joke: “It had already occurred to me as soon as in Guadalajara,” he remarked.
