Buzzed: Fans lift Carlos Alcaraz as he makes bee-line into last 16

INDIAN WELLS – Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz had a fun flashback at the Indian Wells Open on March 10, thanks to some fans dressed as bees – a homage to his 2024 match that was interrupted by a swarm of the insects.

A group of about 10 supporters sported yellow-and-black striped costumes and made buzzing sounds while backing the world No. 3 during his 6-2, 6-4 third-round victory over Denis Shapovalov.

The Spaniard, 21, said that he spotted them when they were shown on the big scoreboard.

“It helped me a lot, because you know during the whole first set I was looking at them and laughing,” he said with a big grin. “And I always say that when I’m laughing, when I’m having fun on the court, I show good tennis.”

“So probably thanks to them I could show good tennis,” added Alcaraz, who said he first became aware of the group during the second game of the match.

“It was funny. I took a selfie with them at the end, because I think they deserve it.”

In 2024, his quarter-final match against Alexander Zverev was halted abruptly as swarming bees drove the players away from the court. Alcaraz was stung, swatting the insects aside in alarm before seeking shelter.

The bees swarmed the remote-controlled “spider cam” and the umpire’s chair, and there was a lengthy delay before beekeeper Lance Davis arrived and vacuumed up the bees to release them elsewhere, allowing the match to continue.

Davis’ work had already been noted in 2025 – he performed the ceremonial coin toss before Alcaraz’s opening match.

“When I saw him, I was laughing,” Alcaraz said. “It has been a funny thing.”

In another match with less buzz, world No. 4 Taylor Fritz, the Indian Wells champion in 2022, said he “just stopped making super random mistakes” to turn things around in his 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

“For the first set and a half, I just for no reason was just missing balls. I couldn’t even imagine, I don’t know why I was missing them,” added the American, who had 43 unforced errors to 32 winners.

Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, ending the run of the Dutch lucky loser who toppled 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the second round.

While upsets have claimed men’s top seed Zverev, fourth seed Casper Ruud and sixth-seeded Djokovic, the top five women’s seeds are all safely into the fourth round after victories for world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, third-ranked Coco Gauff and fifth-ranked Australian Open champion Madison Keys.

Sabalenka said her 6-1, 6-2 victory over 62nd-ranked Lucia Bronzetti was not as easy as it looked.

“I had to fight for every point and I’m super happy with the win,” said the Belarusian.

Keys’ struggles were obvious, but the American, who shocked Sabalenka in the Melbourne final, gutted out a 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), 6-4 victory over Elise Mertens.

Unable to convert two match points as she served at 5-3 in the second set, she blew two more in the tiebreak before finally polishing off the 28th seed from Belgium in 2hr 48min.

“It’s just about surviving,” said Keys, who admitted she was finding it tricky to manage her own expectations in her first tournament since capturing her maiden Slam.

“Today I don’t think I played my best level, and I think that was more frustrating just because I’m starting to expect a little bit more of myself.”

Gauff cleaned up her service game to pull off a 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari – who beat Gauff in the semi-finals in 2024 on the way to a second Indian Wells final in three years.

In other news, umpire Juan Gabriel Castro from the Dominican Republic has been suspended for six years for breaches of anti-corruption protocols after manipulating scoring during matches, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said.

In a statement, the ITIA added that Castro had been fined US$6,000 (S$8,000) for 12 breaches. AFP, REUTERS