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Alcaraz braves ‘bee invasion’ to enter semis

Updated on: 16 March,2024 07:55 AM IST  |  Indian Wells
AFP |

World No. 2 Alcaraz was stung on the forehead and temporarily forced from the court as a “bee invasion” halted his quarter-final against Germany’s Zverev with just two games completed

Alcaraz braves ‘bee invasion’ to enter semis

Carlos Alcaraz

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz fought off swarming bees and Alexander Zverev on Thursday to set up a semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells. 


World No. 2 Alcaraz was stung on the forehead and temporarily forced from the court as a “bee invasion” halted his quarter-final against Germany’s Zverev with just two games completed. 


He looked none the worse for wear when play resumed after a delay of almost two hours, polishing off a 6-3, 6-1 victory and avenging a quarter-final loss to Zverev at the Australian Open. Sinner powered into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Czech Jiri Lehecka pushing his match win streak to 19. “I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz said “I’m a little bit afraid of bees.”


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Fourth-ranked Daniil Medvedev, runner-up to Alcaraz last year, booked a return trip to the semi-finals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over seventh-ranked Holger Rune of Denmark. Medvedev will play American Tommy Paul, who turned the tables on Casper Ruud with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over the ninth-ranked Norwegian. 

Meanwhile, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek had just got rolling when she found herself in the Indian Wells semi-finals on Thursday as Caroline Wozniacki retired from their quarter-final with a foot injury. The intriguing match-up between the current and former No. 1 saw 33-year-old Wozniacki race to a 4-1 lead. 

But 22-year-old Swiatek found her range and reeled off six straight games, pocketing the first set 6-4 and taking a 1-0 lead in the second before Wozniacki called a halt, having received treatment for an apparent blister on her right foot at the end of the first set.

Swiatek, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, booked a semi-final meeting with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who beat Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 7-5. US Open champion Coco Gauff reached the Indian Wells semis for the first time, beting China’s Yuan Yue 6-4, 6-3.

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