Alcaraz to face Sinner in Indian Wells semis; Paul to meet Medvedev

Indian Wells, March 15 (IANS) Carlos Alcaraz moved into the Indian Wells semifinal after beating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in a quarterfinal match like no other.

Swarmed by bees, Carlos Alcaraz swung his racquet in defense, halting play for nearly two hours. Despite the interruption, Alcaraz showcased incredible resilience and skill, overpowering Zverev with his monstrous ball-striking to secure a victory and a spot in the semifinals.

Reflecting on the surreal moment, Alcaraz described the chaos of thousands of bees surrounding him, illustrating the intensity of the situation. With the help of a beekeeper, play resumed, and Alcaraz emerged from the delay in top form, demonstrating his prowess on the court with blistering forehand winners and impeccable court coverage.

“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 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.

Alcaraz's victory marked his tenth consecutive win at Indian Wells and propelled him into his eighth Masters 1000 semi-final, where he is set to face off against Jannik Sinner.

Jannik Sinner extended his unbeaten streak in 2024 to 16 matches with a comfortable victory over Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-3 in the other quarter-finals. The world No. 3 won his 19th match in a row since losing to Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in November.

At 22 years old, Sinner has become the youngest male player in the Open era to start a season with 16 successive victories.

In another quarter-final match, Tommy Paul battled past Casper Ruud 6-2 1-6 6-3, reaching the semi-finals of an ATP Masters tournament for the second time in his career.

Paul will face Daniil Medvedev in the semis who came from down a break in the second set against Holger Rune to get back on serve and then went on to secure a victory by e 7-5, 6-4 win in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells for the second consecutive year.