A swarm of bees has evaded the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, during the annual professional tennis tournament, disrupting the match for hours.

The incident occurred on Thursday, March 14, 2024, when a swarm of bees attached themselves to the overhead spider camera that traverses the court.

Umpire Mohamed Lahyani, a camera operator, said that the swarm of bees was summoned to the court with a spray bottle that he used to douse seats and the walls around the court.

He added that the match was halted at Stadium 1, after being stung.

“I fled for the locker room, as did Spanish pro tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and his German opponent, Alexander Zverev,” Mohamed said.

The quarterfinal match resumed after a delay of one hour and 48 minutes, and yet the actual playing time was one hour and twenty-nine minutes.

Alcaraz, the BNP Paribas Open defending champion, was playing against Zverev, who defeated Alcaraz in their last match at the Australian Open.

This is not the first time that bees have halted sports games. In 2019, a swarm of bees interrupted a cricket World Cup match in England.