ATP Tour quarterfinal suspended for almost two hours over bee invasion

There have been many strange instances of animals interfering with sports events over the years, but what happened in the men’s quarterfinals at the ATP Tour’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California Thursday stood out. There, a match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev was suspended for almost two hours due to…a bee invasion. Here’s how this was first discussed on the Tennis Channel broadcast, which had their movable spider cam completely covered by a swarm of bees:

"'Play suspended due to bee invasion.' Something you thought you'd never hear." pic.twitter.com/cFq2fuSOpN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 15, 2024

Here is some more evidence of the bee invasion:

https://twitter.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/1768405220374233146

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

https://twitter.com/christophclarey/status/1768404565123272981

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1768410110131408910

But strange moments lead to the rise of unexpected heroes. And here, that was Lance Davis, president of Killer Bee Live Removal, who came by around an hour into the delay and was able to remove the bees alive:

https://twitter.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/1768419806712377353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1768419806712377353%7Ctwgr%5E09069a2fafef5373c24fe1109f836f196ca29458%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.desertsun.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Ftennis%2Fbnp%2F2024%2F03%2F14%2Fbee-invasion-suspends-carlos-alcaraz-and-alexander-zverev-match-at-bnp-paribas-open%2F72979060007%2F

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1768428908406350117

The hero we didn’t know we needed 🐝🙋‍♂️#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/FNRKWZZGJV

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2024

A STAR IS BORN

Beekeeper Lance Davis is the GOAT#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/GWnJWP66cJ

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 15, 2024

Obsessed with the Indian Wells bee guy who appears to be Lance Davis, President of Killer Bee Live Removal pic.twitter.com/YWRrMoBcNj

— Matt Roberts (@MattRobertsTTP) March 14, 2024

https://twitter.com/tennismasterr/status/1768434850451562910

https://twitter.com/EllaLing23/status/1768431666648002638

The match was eventually able to resume after Davis successfully removed those bees. But it only resumed almost two hours later:

https://twitter.com/BastienFachan/status/1768434493377913105

In the end, Alcarez (subject of a just-announced Netflix docuseries) won 6-3, 6-1 and advanced to the semifinals. And the tournament social media team had jokes:

https://twitter.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/1768451127820124206

This is far from the first animal interruption of a sporting event, or even a tennis match, but it’s certainly a notable one. And it’s a good thing that Davis was there to save the bees, and the day.

[USA Today, image from Bleacher Report on Twitter/X]