“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen happen on a tennis court” : Players react to the Indian Wells bee invasion

There were some un-bee-lievable scenes at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday evening.

The quarter-final match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev was suspended for almost two hours at 1-1 in the first set because of a bee invasion. After play finally resumed and Alcaraz finished off an otherwise straightforward 6-3, 6-1, players reacted to what had transpired.

“For sure (it was) the most unusual match I have ever played in my career,” Alcaraz commented. “I’ve never experienced something like that; I’ve never seen something like that. So I think I will remember that match because of that. I think everybody will remember this situation, and we found it as a funny thing. That’s for sure.

“I won the first point of the third game of the match, and I was ready to serve to the next point. I saw some bees around, but I thought it was just a few of them — just not too many. But I saw the sky and there was thousands, thousands flying, stuck in my hair, going to me. It was crazy. I tried to stay away from them, but it was impossible.

“I’m a little bit afraid of them. I had to stay safe, and yeah, I was running everywhere.”

it was (a) crazy situation. I don’t think it can ever happen again.

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev would have had a similar reaction.

“I’m a bit scared of insects, to be honest,” Medvedev admitted following his 7-5, 6-4 victory over Holger Rune. “Whenever there is a bee, everyone is, like, don’t move. As we saw with the guy, normally they don’t bite…. I usually sit like this for five seconds and then I’m like, ‘Wah, just get away.’ I would be probably sprinting out of the court.

“But, yeah, (it was a) crazy situation. I don’t think this (has) ever happened in tennis. Unbelievable. When I saw it on TV, I was like, ‘wow, okay, let’s see how it evolves.’ Then (after) 10 minutes I see Sascha coming in the locker room. Okay, it didn’t go well. Yeah, it was (a) crazy situation. I don’t think it can ever happen again. Unbelievable.”

Coco Gauff, who defeated Yue Yuan 6-4, 6-3, was similarly shocked.

“That was crazy,” the 2023 US Open champion said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Did Alcaraz actually get stung? Oh, he did. I heard that. I saw the video of him trying to run away. I said he wasn’t fast enough.

“That’s just one of those things…. You can’t defeat the bees. You know, he tried to swing his racquet, but there were just too many of them. I did feel bad for him. I’m glad he’s not allergic. That would have been tough.

“Yeah, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen happen at a tennis court and hopefully it will never happen again — at least not to me!”‘

Like Gauff, Iga Swiatek was also lucky to emerge unscathed on Thursday. Swiatek had already finished her match against Caroline Wozniacki (the Dane retired during the second set) and was at her press conference when the bees swarmed Stadium 1. The world No 1 summed up the situation in accurate, matter-of-fact fashion.

“I’m glad I’m not there anymore.”

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