CARLOS ALCARAZ'S showdown with Alexander Zverev was suspended... after he was stung during a bee invasion.
The Spanish sensation, 20, took on the German at Indian Wells aiming to book his spot in the semi-finals.
But at 1-1 in the first set, unbelievable scenes saw a sudden influx of bees descend upon the court.
Thousands of the flying stingers swooped around Alcaraz as he was preparing to serve.
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The Wimbledon champion desperately swatted them away in a panic before rushing away to put a towel to his head for protection.
However, his manager then confirmed Alcaraz had been stung on the forehead amid the drama.
Then umpire Mohamed Lahyani - who was spotted frantically avoiding the bees - announced over the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have bees - play paused for a while.
"Play cannot continue, pause for a while."
The distressing scenes then saw Alcaraz take shelter by running off court to safety and back to the changing rooms.
Zverev and Lahyani followed suit - with some fans also leaving the stadium.
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Stunned commentators could barely comprehend what was happening.
The TV cameras then showed the spider cam which was absolutely covered in the insects.
Poor Mohamed Lahyani! pic.twitter.com/Aur5e5J4kp
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The operator then lifted the camera up as an attempt to take the bees away from the stadium.
However, it is understood a number of tennis spectators were stung amid the invasion.
During the stoppage, Sky Sports confirmed a beekeeper was on the way to the site while a fire engine also appeared.
Fans unsurprisingly swooped to social media to give their reactions.
Judy Murray said: "You cannot bee seriousâ¦.. play suspended on the Stadium court at Indian Wells after a bee invasion. Thatâs got to be a first."
Another wrote: "Never seen anything like that before!"
A third added: "Everyone needs to BEE careful."
A fourth quipped: "What a buzzing atmosphere."
A fifth joked: "How beezarre."
And a final user simply commented: "Tennis, what a sport."
