Stung into action, Alcaraz sets Sinner SF showdown

Carlos Alcaraz was swatting bees away from his head just nine minutes into his BNP Paribas Open 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."

Alcaraz ripped forehand winners as fast as 100 mph and covered every corner of the court to perfection. He produced consistency to deflate the German, who at one time needed 34 shots to outlast the brick-wall Spaniard for a lone 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.”

The World No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings dropped just four points behind his first delivery to improve to 4-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Zverev.

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.

"I don't know how I'm going to approach the match. He's the best tennis player in the world right now, without a doubt," Alcaraz said of the Italian, who is 16-0 in 2024. "He's playing unbelievable, no losses this year. I really enjoy watching him play. So it's going to be a really difficult match. It's going to be a big challenge for me."

The 26-year-old Zverev was aiming to complete his quest of reaching the semi-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.