Not even a near two-hour delay due to a bee invasion could stop Spanish tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells on Friday.

German Alexander Zverev was just one obstacle Alcaraz was forced to overcome during the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open.

The match was two games old when world No. 2 Alcaraz began swatting at bees that had started swarming around him.

What started as a bit of a laugh quickly turned into a panic as players were forced off the court by the hundreds of bees that had quickly assembled.

Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani announced that “play cannot continue, pause for a while now” and the players were sent to the locker room. A beekeeper was quickly called.

The swarm took particular interest in the overhead spider camera, which online punters speculated might resemble a hive to the members of the Hymenoptera community.

Spectators were encouraged to watch the women’s quarter-final match between America’s Coco Gauff and China’s Yue Yuan on the big screen outside the stadium. Gauff ended up winning the match in straight sets to book herself a spot in the semi-final.

About 45 minutes after play was paused, beekeeper Lance Davis arrived without protective gear and started vacuuming up the swarms. The ATP reported that Davis is the president of the Palm Desert’s Killer Bee Live Removal.