INDIAN WELLS-. Carlos Alcaraz survived a swarm of bees that caused a nearly two-hour delay and cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alexander Zverev to reach the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday night.
The match was suspended after 19 minutes with Alcaraz’s service tied 1-1, who ran to protect himself from the insects.
Dozens of bees adhered to the panoramic camera located on the field to be subsequently vacuumed by a man without any protective suit, who was summoned to the field with a spray bottle that he used in all spaces.
The match resumed after a delay of one hour and 48 minutes. The actual playing time was 1:29.
Jannik Sinner defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Indian Wells Open and extend his season winning streak to 16, which includes the Australian Open title.
Sinner is 19-0 dating back to the Davis Cup with Italy last year and has won 21 of his last 22 sets.
“You earned these things by working hard and believing. I’m happy to be in this equation. It doesn’t matter if you’re 16-0 or whatever,” said the third seed when interviewed by Tennis Channel.
“I have improved a lot of things, which gives me more confidence on the court,” Sinner added.
For his part, the American Tommy Paul (17th seed) defeated the Norwegian Casper Ruud (9th) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, to reach the second Masters 1000 semifinal of his career. The American won 25 points at the net, which was part of his game plan.
“It was to play aggressive, go out and play my game and make him uncomfortable, especially at pressure points,” Paul said.
Paul will face fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in the other semi-final after the Russian beat Holger Rune 7-5, 6-3 on the night.
In the women, Iga Swiatek, the world number one in women’s tennis, rallied from a first-set deficit and punched her ticket when Caroline Wozniacki left the match.
Coco Gauff beat Yuan Yue 6-4, 6-3 in a duel that lasted an hour and a half despite the fact that she had 17 double faults and seven aces.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk defeated Russian Anastasia Potapova for the first time in three meetings, winning 6-0, 7-5, to reach the semifinals. Maria Sakkari defeated Emma Navarro 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to claim the last ticket to the semis.
The Polish star was leading 6-4 and had just broken serve in the first game of the second set when his Danish opponent retired due to a right foot problem.
Wozniacki, the 2011 tournament champion and former world number one, took a 4-1 lead at the start of the match, but Swiatek won the last five games to take the first set, in front of actor Will Ferrell.
Swiatek advanced to the semifinals for the third straight year in the Southern California desert, dropping 14 games in her matches so far. This was Wozniacki’s seventh tournament in his return to the tour since he retired three and a half years ago to get married and have two children.
All eight quarterfinal matches were played on the same day for the first time in the combined ATP and WTA tournament.
FOUNTAIN: AP
