Before her semi-final loss against Maria Sakkari, Coco Gauff appeared on the Tennis Channel to talk about her quarter-final victory. She also made a hilarious forecast for the Miami Masters 2024 after the Indian Wells 2024 saw a swarm of bees interrupt a match. She joked that the upcoming 1000-level tournament may see an alligator invasion.
Between her quarter-final win and semi-final disappointment, Gauff spoke to Tennis Channel and addressed the bee interruption, among other things. She said she found out about it from X only after the incident had happened. She light-heartedly added that Carlos Alcaraz was not fast enough to get away. The 2023 US Open champion said had she been playing, she would have darted off the court instantly regardless of any violations.
“No, I didn’t know what was going on. God, that’s a funny graphic. I didn’t know that was going on until like, after the match. And I saw on Twitter and like, I don’t know how that happened. Like, you know, I saw the video of poor Carlos trying to run away and he wasn’t quick enough for me. I would have just been off the court, like a time violation. I don’t care.”
Coco Gauff remarked it was strange that the bees attacked only one match and were not seen before. Like the rest of the tennis fraternity, she was full of praise for Lance Davis, the beekeeper who cleared the premises of the insects.
The American recollected that before the bee invasion at the Indian Wells 2024, a snake had caused a delay at the Australian Open. She joked that the Miami Open 2024 would see an alligator or an iguana interruption if things continue like this.
“So I saw earlier this year in Australia there was a snake delay. Now it’s a bee delay. So I’m like, is Miami going to be an alligator or iguana delay? We’ll see. It would be funny as long as nobody gets hurt.”
The bees have overshadowed the tennis action at Indian Wells for the past couple of days. A swarm attacked during Carlos Alcaraz’s quarter-final against Alexander Zverev, forcing a delay as everyone ran for cover. The Spaniard even got stung but carried on to win the match.
Semi-final finish for Coco Gauff at Indian Wells 2024
Hours after her interview with Tennis Channel, Gauff returned to the court to contest Maria Sakkari for a spot in the final. The latter, ranked World No.9, got off to a strong start by winning a rain-interrupted first set. However, the World No.3 bounced back to win the second after a tiebreak. Despite requiring medical attention during the changeover, Gauff saved three match points to level affairs.
Sakkari brought her best tennis in the decider to blaze past the local favorite in the third set and win 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2. The Greek will face Iga Swiatek in the final. Coco Gauff, meanwhile, has many positives to draw from her Indian Wells 2024 campaign. After a three-set opener against Clara Burel, she dominated her next three ties, winning all in straight sets. She defeated Lucia Bronzetti, Elise Mertens, and Yue Yuan, in that order, to get to the final four.
Gauff will hope to keep her good form up, iron out the chinks in her armour, and go a couple of steps further in the Miami Open 2024.
