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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Flying ants invade Wimbledon on warmest day of tournament

Steve Johnson of the United States gestures to get rid of flying ants during the Men's Singles Match against Moldova's Radu Albot on day three at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Steve Johnson of the United States gestures to get rid of flying ants during the Men's Singles Match against Moldova's Radu Albot on day three at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Steve Johnson of the United States gestures to get rid of flying ants during the Men's Singles Match against Moldova's Radu Albot on day three at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) – They were buggin’ out at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Hundreds of flying ants swarmed around various courts at the All England Club, distracting players during their matches, as the temperature warmed up considerably, from the low 70s (20s Celsius) to nearly 85 degrees (nearly 30 Celsius).

It left the racket-wielders swatting the bugs instead of tennis balls, at times.

Steve Johnson, an American seeded 26th, was startled when one of the critters buzzed its way into his right ear at the precise moment that he came up with a forehand winner during what would become a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Radu Albot of Moldova.

Johnson did a little dance while he extracted the invader.