Indian Wells suspended as swarm of bees attack Carlos Alcaraz and Judy Murray cracks joke

A swarm of bees was seen flying through the air with Alcaraz then fleeing underneath the umpire's chair and out of the stadium.

The chair umpire also attempted to avoid being stung and said: "Play cannot continue, pause for a while here now."

Carlos Alcaraz ran away from the swam of bees

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Both players quickly rushed to the locker room to escape the bee invasion on court.

Cameras picked up the bees gathering around the TV equipment with seemingly thousands descending on Stadium 1.

The swarm congregated around the spider cam in the middle of the court with everyone on court making a haste exit.

It wasn't immediately clear how long it would take to clear the swarm of bees and when the match would be resumed.

Murray used the bee invasion as an opportunity to reference John McEnroe's famous phrase in jest.

She wrote: "You cannot bee serious….. play suspended on the Stadium court at Indian Wells after a [bee emoji] invasion.

"That’s got to be a first."

Alcaraz and Zverev's match had only just started with the first set level at 1-1.

Indian Wells were forced to suspend play

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The Spaniard was serving in the third game when the swarm of bees invaded the court.

There was no such delay in the women's quarter-final clash between Coco Gauff and Yue Yuan on Court 2.

Iga Swiatek had eased into the semi-final earlier in the day after Caroline Wozniacki retired injured.

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Bee invasion suspends a tennis match in one of the biggest tennis courts in the world.

Wow. pic.twitter.com/dBXu7xRlRp

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 14, 2024

In the men's draw, Jannik Sinner had booked his place in the semi-finals with a comfortable win over Jiri Lehecka.

Tommy Paul also flew the flag for the Americans with an impressive victory over Casper Ruud.

The winner of Alcaraz and Zverev will face Sinner in the semi-final.