Quarter final between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev suspended, bees swarm, video

In extraordinary scenes at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the men’s quarter final between defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev was suspended because of a “bee invasion”.

Less than three games into the opening set on Friday, play was brought to a standstill as a swarm of bees descended on Court 1.

After Alcaraz and Zverev fled the court and took cover in the locker room, umpire Mohamed Lahyani declared a “bee invasion” would see the match suspended until further notice.

The insects soon began encircling the court’s spider camera located above the centre of the court.

A bee keeper has since been called to the court to remove the bees.

The bees did not impact the neighbouring courts with the women’s quarter final between Coco Gauff and unseeded player Yuan Yue on Court 2 continuing undisrupted.

The match will resume after the break with Alcaraz on serve and the score standing at 1-1, 15-0.