Indian Wells: Alcaraz beats Zverev, set Sinner semi-finals clash

Carlos Alcaraz was swatting bees away from his head just nine minutes into his Indian Wells quarter-final against Alexander Zverev

The Spaniard swung his racquet to protect himself from the bee swarm, which suspended play for one hour and 48 minutes. But Alcaraz did damage of his own with monstrous ball-striking to oust the German 6-3, 6-1 for a place in the Indian Wells semi-finals.

“It was strange, I’ve never seen something like that on a tennis court,” Alcaraz said. “When we ran out of the court, we were watching the bee invasion on the TV and we laughed a lot about it. It was funny for me. It’s going to be remembered for that, not for the tennis.”

The bizarre incident occurred in the 20-year-old’s second service game of the match, when bees surrounded him and completely covered the spidercam on Stadium 1. “I saw the sky and there were thousands [of bees] flying, stuck in my hair, going to me. It was crazy,” Alcaraz said.

A beekeeper was called to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and later Alcaraz kept Zverev from defeating him for the third time in six months.

The defending champion came out of the delay in top-tier form, breaking Zverev in the German’s first service game and building upon his momentum to advance after one hour, 29 minutes.

“We decided to warm up again and I saw that the bees weren’t around anymore. Just one or two,” Alcaraz said. “So I tried to not think about the bees anymore. I tried to stay focussed on the ball, stay focussed on the point.”

“I’m really, really happy with the level that I’m playing,” said Alcaraz, who committed just 13 unforced errors, compared to Zverev’s 26. “The way I’m using the court I think is really important for me, for my game. The opponent doesn’t know what’s going to come next. Probably I’m going to return some inside the court and in the deep parts. It’s kind of confusing for them, that’s my style, that’s my game.”

A 12-time tour-level titlist, Alcaraz has won 10 consecutive matches in Indian Wells. He is into his eighth Masters 1000 semi-final, in which he will meet Jannik Sinner, who has beaten the two-time major champion in four out of their seven meetings.

Sinner extended his winnings streak to 19 games and 16 of the season after seeing off Czech Jiri Lehecka  6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 25 minutes to reach the semis.