In tennis, play being suspended by, say, rain or even extreme heat is relatively common—nothing to write home about.
Play being suspended by insects? That is something else entirely.
During Thursday’s Indian Wells Open quarterfinal in California between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev, bees swarmed the court and forced a suspension of play in the first set.
With Alcaraz preparing to serve at 1–1, bees attacked him and motivated the chair umpire to call for a pause.
“Play cannot continue. We will pause for awhile here now,” the umpire said as Alcaraz jogged around the hard court to avoid the dive-bombing bugs.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Bees 🐝
Advantage, bees. #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/2fLBWHKYyi
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 14, 2024
Albert Molina, who is Alcaraz’s manager, told reporters that the Spaniard was stung in the forehead by a bee.
🗣️🎾 Albert Molina, manager de @carlosalcaraz, en @partidazocope, tras la invasión de abejas durante el partido del tenista murciano
😳 “Le ha picado una abeja en la frente”
😰 “Estaba totalmente rodeado”
📻 #PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/KKKBrHDJ3t
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) March 14, 2024
Another quarterfinal is scheduled to be played on Alcaraz and Zverev’s court Thursday evening between Russian Daniil Medvedev and Denmark’s Holger Rune. Two women’s quarterfinals were also played on the court Thursday without interruption.
Whether the pesky bees will abdicate their position to allow the next match to proceed remains to be seen.
