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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