Bee Attack Halts Tennis Match at Indian Wells, Zverev and Alcaraz Forced to Flee

Tennis Indian Wells

Zverev and Alcaraz flee from thousands of bees in the middle of the game

As of: 4:10 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes

Bee attack on tennis court – Alcaraz and Zverev have to get to safety

ATP Masters match in Indian Wells was interrupted by a swarm of bees crossing Center Court, threatening both players and spectators, including Bill Gates. The tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev had to take refuge in the dressing room.

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Alexander Zverev fights against Carlos Alcaraz for the semi-finals in Indian Wells. Suddenly the Spaniard waves his tennis racket around violently. A swarm of bees buzzes onto the tennis court. A beekeeper and his vacuum cleaner have to come.

First Olympic champion Alexander Zverev was stopped by a swarm of bees, then Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was a size too big for him. The 26-year-old from Hamburg missed the semifinals of the Indian Wells tennis masters tournament on Thursday (local time). Zverev lost in the quarterfinals against Alcaraz 3:6, 1:6. The Spaniard will now face Jannik Sinner, who recently won the Australian Open. The Italian showed a confident performance in the 6:3, 6:3 against the Czech Jiri Lehecka

A swarm of bees caused a stir during Zverev’s game, causing an interruption when the score was 1-1 in the first set. Alcaraz, who was serving, first lashed out and then fled into the dressing room. Pictures also showed how countless bees positioned themselves on a camera. “I have never seen anything like this in my 39 years of tennis. Unbelievable,” wrote tennis legend Boris Becker on X (formerly Twitter).

A beekeeper who was called was finally able to collect the bees after 45 minutes – without a protective suit. The interruption lasted a total of one hour and 48 minutes.

A beekeeper collected the bees with a vacuum cleaner during the game

Source: dpa/Mark J. Terrill

Alcaraz also spoke about the animal attack after the game. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little afraid of bees. “It was definitely the most unusual match I have ever played in my career,” explained the Spaniard, adding: “We will always remember the match – because of the bees, not because of the tennis.”

Zverev eliminated in Indian Wells

Zverev has never made it past the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. His last Masters title to date dates back to 2021, when Zverev won both the clay court tournament in Madrid and the hard court tournament in Cincinnati.

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Meanwhile, the top German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz missed out on a place in the final. In the semifinals, the seventh-seeded doubles team had no chance against Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic and lost 2:6, 1:6 after 56 minutes. Without any animal interruption.

2024-03-15 15:10:00
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