Showing posts with label 2024 Indian Wells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2024 Indian Wells. Show all posts

Monday, 18 March 2024

SWIATEK DOWNS SAKKARI TO WIN SECOND INDIAN WELLS TITLE

USA TODAY Sports 

 World number one Iga Swiatek dominated ninth seed Maria Sakkari to win the Indian Wells final 6-4 6-0 and claim the title for a second time in the California desert on Sunday.

In a rematch of the 2022 showpiece, Swiatek's precise serving and speedy defence proved too much for her Greek opponent and the Pole reeled off the final eight games to close out a tournament where she never dropped a set.

"I'm really proud of myself, I'm super happy," Swiatek told reporters. "Even though this tournament looked like, the scores, maybe I had everything under control, it wasn't from the beginning to the end so easy.

"So I'm happy I could improve during the tournament. I felt really good on the last two matches, big amount of confidence. I'm really proud of myself."

Swiatek, who won her third straight Qatar Open in Doha last month, beamed a big smile on the sun-soaked stadium court after getting her hands on the Indian Wells trophy again.

"Right now I just feel I've done really good work," said the 22-year-old, who was upset in the third round of January's Australian Open.

"It hasn't been easy after Australia, and I've been working hard to play well and to handle everything mentally well."

CARLOS ALCARAZ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS, TROPHY 🏆 & SPEECHES

Friday, 15 March 2024

THAT STINGS! SWARM OF BEES 🐝 DELAYS ALCARAZ MATCH

AFP


 INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- A swarm of bees forced a nearly two-hour disruption to the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday.

Alcaraz swatted at the bees buzzing around him before running for cover and the match was suspended 19 minutes in with Alcaraz serving tied at 1-1.

Dozens of bees attached themselves to the overhead spider camera that traverses the court and a man without any protective covering used a vacuum to clean them off.

An American hero 🐝 #IndianWells | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/91owMnJoNi

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

The players left the court during the delay. When they returned, the chair umpire told them there were still some bees around and Zverev joked that he was fine to play on his side of the court.

The bee vacuumer was summoned back to the court with a spray bottle and was cheered wildly by the crowd. He posed for selfies with fans, causing Alcaraz and Zverev to laugh as they watched him wander the seats spraying for bees. The man also doused the walls around the court.

A bee also landed on a player's towel. Alcaraz expressed ongoing concern that the bees would swarm again on his side, but an ATP Tour supervisor encouraged him to give it a try during the warmup.

The match resumed after a delay of one hour, 48 minutes, and Alcaraz went on to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Zverev to reach the Indian Wells semifinals.

Tournament owner and billionaire Larry Ellison and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates were watching the match from Ellison's box.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services

INDIAN WELLS HIGHLIGHTS | QUARTERFINALS

ALEXANDER ZVEREV VS. CARLOS ALCARAZ (VS. 🐝 BEES) | INDIAN WELLS HIGHLIGHTS

SWARM OF BEES SUSPEND CARLOS ALCARAZ'S GAME AT INDIAN WELLS