(INDIAN WELLS, California) — A professional tennis match at a tournament in California was suspended Thursday due to a rare “bee invasion,” officials said.
Bees swarmed the primary showcourt Thursday afternoon at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs, during the quarter-final match between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
The bees began to swarm Alcaraz, the defending champion, while he was serving early in the first set, according to the ATP Tour, which called the incident a “rare occurrence.”
The bees could also be seen crawling on the Spidercam.
“It’s horrendous,” an announcer said as Alcaraz was seen swatting his racquet at the bees and running off the court.
Alcaraz and Zverev ducked for cover in the locker room.
The chair umpire announced the match would be suspended until further notice.
“Play has been suspended due to bee invasion,” the BNP Paribas Open said on social media.
The winner of the match will ultimately go on to face Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
The BNP Paribas Open is the first of nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments yearly.
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