Tennis players in the dark at
Madrid Open as matches suspended due to major power outage
[April 29, 2025]
By MANU FERNANDEZ and ANDREW DAMPF
MADRID (AP) — Former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was preparing to
shower in a dark locker room after play at the Madrid Open was
suspended and then postponed Monday due to a major power outage in
Spain and Portugal.
Then Gauff realized the water was off, too.
“So I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself,” Gauff said, “and
spray some perfume and call it a day.”
Gauff managed to beat Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 shortly before the
outage, which apparently cut off the sound as she was giving a
post-match interview on the court. Then the 2023 U.S. Open champion
posted an Instagram story showing only an emergency light working in
an otherwise dark locker room.
The power went out at 12:34 p.m. local time (1034 GMT), stopping two
ATP singles matches and one doubles match that were underway. For
the day, a total of 22 matches had to be canceled.
“The cut is preventing the use of electronic line calling systems
and also left a spider cam dangling over the court inside Manolo
Santana Stadium,” the ATP added.
Tournament organizers said they "had no choice but to suspend/cancel
all sporting activity in order to guarantee the safety of the
players, fans and personnel." Spectators were told to leave the
sports complex.
Power was restored at night through most parts of Madrid, and
organizers said play will resume on Tuesday.
Second-ranked Alexander Zverev, a two-time Madrid Open champion,
will face Francisco Cerundolo, while Alex de Minaur and Daniil
Medvedev will also be in action.
On the women's side, the remaining six fourth-matches were expected
to be played on Tuesday, including top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka facing
Peyton Stearns and second-ranked Iga Swiatek taking on Diana
Shnaider.
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The Madrid Open tennis tournament venue is empty during a general
blackout in Madrid, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu
Fernandez)
When play was stopped, Grigor Dimitrov was leading
Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 5-4 inside the main stadium. Also, Matteo
Arnaldi was leading Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 3-2 but that match continued
later — apparently with manual line calling — and Arnaldi won 6-3,
6-4.
The doubles was also completed and some players practiced despite
the outage.
The blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill,
knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM
machines.
Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica declined to speculate on the
cause of the blackout.
Meanwhile, Gauff also posted a photo of candles being distributed.
“It’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity," Gauff said.
"It’s really insane and puts it in perspective.”
Another fourth-round women’s match was also completed before the
blackout: Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4.
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Dampf reported from Rome.
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