Carlos Alcaraz overcame Alexander Zverev in the “Bee Invasion” to get to the Indian Wells semifinals.

Carlos Alcaraz said he never envisioned his title protection would find him dodging for cover in the midst of a bee hive.

Reigning champ Carlos Alcaraz warded off amassing honey bees and Alexander Zverev on Thursday to set up a semi-final conflict with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells. World number two Alcaraz was stung on the temple and briefly constrained from the court as a “honey bee intrusion” ended his quarter-last against Germany’s Zverev with only two games finished. He looked no better or worse off when play continued after a deferral of very nearly two hours, finishing a 6-3, 6-1 triumph and avenging a quarter-last misfortune to Zverev at the Australian Open.

Heathen controlled into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Czech Jiri Lehecka, pushing his game-dominated streak to 19.

Heathen’s success streak extends back through last year’s Davis Cup finals and incorporates an ideal 16-0 record in 2024.

In Saturday’s semi-finals, he’ll be on a mission to reverse the situation for Alcaraz, who beat him at a similar stage and keep going year after year while heading to the title in the California desert.

Alcaraz said he never envisioned his title protection would find him dodging for cover in the midst of a bee hive.

He and Zverev were only two games into their match when the honey bees overpowered procedures, Alcaraz smacking and swiping at the bugs in the wake of being stung on the brow.

The honey bees amassed the remote-controlled “bug cam,” and Alcaraz and Zverev had previously made tracks when seat umpire Mohamed Lahyani reported, “Fine people, play is suspended because of honey bee intrusion.”

A honey bee master was called and took out the honey bees grouped on the flying camera with a live-catch vacuum.

“It was odd; I’ve never seen something to that effect on a tennis court,” Alcaraz said. “At the point when we ran out of the court, we were watching the honey bee intrusion on television, and we chuckled a ton about it.

“It was amusing for me. It will be associated with that, not the tennis.”

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Scared of honey bees

The players were welcomed back on court to warm up, in spite of the fact that Alcaraz demanded honey bee expert Spear Davis dispose of certain strays around the player’s seats and gear.

“I’m not going to mislead anybody,” Alcaraz said. “I’m somewhat scared of honey bees.”

Yet he experienced no more difficulty with the honey bees or Zverev.

He said he was satisfied with how he figured out how to remain on track during the deferral, as well as with his sublime return game against the enormously serving Zverev.

Alcaraz said he played “most likely one of my best return matches that I’ve done in my tennis profession.

“I put each return in,” said Alcaraz, who has gone from one solidarity to another as he pursues his most memorable title since he vanquished Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last July.

He can expect an extreme test against Delinquent, who caught his most memorable home run title in Melbourne and has since lifted the prize in Rotterdam.

In blustery circumstances on court two, Sinner was in firm control, breaking Lehecka from the get-go in each set and saving the main break point he looked at in the match.

“Today was without a doubt an alternate circumstance,” Sinner said. “At the outset, it was blustery, yet I dealt with it well overall.

“He’s an extraordinary player with colossal potential on both swings. He was serving everyone well. Without a doubt, I’m cheerful about the presentation.”

Two other top-10 players conflict when fourth-positioned Daniil Medvedev, a sprinter up to Alcaraz last year, takes on number seven Holger Rune, who saved a match guide on the way toward triumph over 2022 Indian Wells champ Taylor Fritz on Wednesday.

The champ of that match will be American Tommy Paul, who reversed the situation on Casper Ruud with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 triumph over the 10th-positioned Norwegian.

Paul belted 35 champs, saving two break focuses while serving for the match prior to securing it on his subsequent match point.

“It’s marvelous,” said Paul, who had dropped four of his five earlier gatherings with Ruud. “I’m truly siphoned with how I’m playing.”