“I’m a little bit afraid of…,” Carlos Alcaraz thumps Alexander Zverev only to reveal his unexpected fear over a hilarious intervention

Alcaraz defeated Zverev to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for the third consecutive year as his title defense campaign continues.

“I’m a little bit afraid of…,” Carlos Alcaraz thumps Alexander Zverev only to reveal his unexpected fear over a hilarious intervention

Carlos Alcaraz (Image via IMAGO)

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz cruises into the semi-finals of the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. Up against World No. 6 Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, the defending champion won the match 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday.

Alcaraz was trailing 3-5 in the head-to-head against the German. But the win now closes down the gap between the two. Zverev was looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time at the tournament. Indian Wells remains the only Masters-1000 event where he has not yet reached the last-4.

YouTube video

The match lasted for 1 hour and 29 minutes on Stadium 1. But the match had a forced suspension due to an invasion by the bees. The play had to be suspended as a colony of bees took over the proceedings.

FS Video

The players immediately rushed inside and so did the chair umpire after announcing the suspension. As per the official ATP Tour data, the play was suspended for 1 hour and 48 minutes. This is 19 minutes more than what Alcaraz needed to beat the German Olympic gold medalist.

Nevertheless, everyone found the funny side of the events, including Alcaraz. Speaking during his on-court interview, he admitted to being scared of the insect. But joked around how this incident will overshadow his performance for years to come. 

It was strange. I’ve never seen something like that at a tennis tournament. We ran out of the court. We were watching the bee invasion on TV. We laughed a lot about the words from Mohamed [umpire]. It was funny for me.
Said Alcaraz, speaking during his on-court interview. 
This match is gonna be remembered for that, not the tennis or anything else but the bees…. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little bit afraid of the bees.
Added the Spaniard.

Carlos Alcaraz takes on Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals in a blockbuster clash

With the win over Zverev, Alcaraz moves into his third semi-finals in Indian Wells in four appearances. He made his tournament debut in 2021 but lost to Andy Murray in three sets. He then made the semis in 2022, only to be stopped by Rafael Nadal.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz (via Imago)

But he now sets up a repeat of last year’s semi-final clash as he will take on World No. 3 Jannik Sinner. The Italian has been the man to beat this season as he is currently on a 19-match winning streak. 16 of those wins have come in 2024.

Sinner defeated 32nd-seeded Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 to reach his second semis at the tennis paradise. Unlike Alcaraz, he is yet to drop a set this week. This will be the eighth career meeting between the two youngsters and the first of the season.

Sinner currently leads the head-to-head 4-3. With two titles in two tournament appearances, including the 2024 Australian Open, Sinner will fancy his chances to end Alcaraz’s title defense.

But at the same time, with a chance to end the Italian’s winning streak and level the head-to-head, Alcaraz also has a lot to play for. In all fairness, it will surely be an epic clash between the two seeds.

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