Carlos Alcaraz absolutely loved the fans’ idea to dress in bee costumes for his Indian Wells third-round match as the Spaniard claimed the creative idea even helped him play better because it made him laugh.
On Monday evening, the defending champion saw off Denis Shapovalov 6-2 6-4 to progress into the round-of-16 in the desert. While the Spaniard was handling the business on the court, all of that was followed by a group of fans who wore bee costumes.
For context, Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev saw their 2024 Indian Wells quarterfinal match interrupted and suspended after a swarm of bees invaded the court. So one group of fans figured out it would be funny but also creative to come to one of the Spaniard’s matches in the desert in a bee costume.
Alcaraz: I was looking at them and laughing… I showed good tennis because of them
“It is funny, because, I mean, it helped me a lot, because, you know, during the whole first set, I was looking at them and laughing. And I always say that when I laughing, when I’m having fun on the court I show good tennis,” the world No. 3 said.
“So probably thanks to them so I could show good tennis, as well. I didn’t realize until the second game, the camera put them on the screen. So it was funny. As I said, I took a selfie with them at the end, because I think they deserve it.”
For a place in the Indian Wells quarterfinal, Alcaraz will play against Grigor Dimitrov, who edged out Gael Monfils in a three-set thriller.
The Spaniard won his first three meetings against Dimitrov but the Bulgarian won their last two clashes at the 2023 Shanghai Masters and the 2024 Miami Masters.