Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) reacts after successful a degree in his quarterfinal match as he defeated Alexander Zverev (GER) within the BNP Paribas Open on the Indian Wells Tennis Backyard. Obligatory Credit score:
| Picture Credit score: Reuters/USA At the moment
Carlos Alcaraz survived a swarm of bees that prompted an almost two-hour delay and went on to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alexander Zverev to achieve the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, March 14, 2024 evening.
Alcaraz swatted on the bees buzzing round him earlier than working for canopy and the match was suspended 19 minutes in with Alcaraz serving tied at 1-1.
Dozens of bees hooked up themselves to the overhead spider digital camera that traverses the court docket and a person with none protecting masking used a vacuum to scrub them off. The bee vacuumer was summoned to the court docket with a sprig bottle that he used to douse seats and the partitions across the court docket.
The match resumed after a delay of 1 hour, 48 minutes. The precise taking part in time was 1:29.
Jannik Sinner defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 to increase his successful streak to 16 consecutive matches this yr. He’ll play Alcaraz within the semis on Saturday.
Sinner’s run contains the Australian Open title he received in January. The Italian is 19-0 total relationship to final yr’s Davis Cup. He’s received 21 of his final 22 units.
“You earn these items by working exhausting and believing,” Sinner stated in a Tennis Channel interview. “I’m simply glad to be on this equation. It doesn’t matter if you happen to’re 16-0 or no matter.”
Sinner made simply 4 unforced errors within the first set when Lehecka had 17 miscues.
Sinner bought the lone break within the second set within the fourth recreation with a backhand winner. Lehecka erased Sinner’s first match level within the eighth recreation earlier than Sinner transformed his fourth match level in serving it out.
“I’ve improved many issues which makes me extra assured on the court docket,” Sinner stated.
Tommy Paul rallied previous ninth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to achieve his second profession Masters 1000 semifinal. The American received 25 factors on the web, which was a part of his recreation plan.
“It was to play aggressive, come out and play my recreation and make him uncomfortable particularly on the strain factors,” Paul stated. “I broke the (racket) string on match level and I used to be like, ‘Oh no,’ and form of rushed the web and hoped for one of the best.”
Paul will play fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev within the different semifinal. Medvedev defeated Holger Rune 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday.
Prime-ranked Iga Swiatek rallied from a 1-4 deficit within the first set and superior when Caroline Wozniacki needed to stop their quarterfinal.
Coco Gauff defeated Yuan Yue 6-4, 6-3 in 1 1/2 hours regardless of 17 double faults towards seven aces.
Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine defeated Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 7-5 for the primary time in three profession conferences to achieve the semifinals.
Maria Sakkari outlasted Emma Navarro, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 for the ultimate slot within the semis.
Swiatek was main 6-4 and had simply damaged Wozniacki to open the second set when the Dane retired due to a proper foot challenge. She had jammed a toenail on her foot earlier within the event and had a coach retape it between units.
Wozniacki, the 2011 event champion and former world No. 1, raced to a 4-1 lead within the first when Swiatek dedicated a lot of her 17 unforced errors.
However Swiatek turned it on from there, successful the ultimate 5 video games to take the primary set. She broke Wozniacki in a four-deuce recreation to shut out the set by which Swiatek had 17 winners in entrance of actor Will Ferrell.
Swiatek moved on to the semifinals for the third straight yr within the Southern California desert, having dropped simply 14 video games in her matches thus far. Wozniacki was within the seventh event of her comeback since retiring 3 1/2 years in the past, marrying and having two kids.
All eight quarterfinals have been being performed on the identical day for the primary time on the mixed ATP Tour and WTA Tour occasion.
