Madrid Open plunged into chaos as power outage delays play

The Madrid Open was plunged into darkness and chaos by the massive power outage which has swept across much of the Iberian Peninsula.

Fans were left to use phone flashlights to navigate the pitch-black underground staircases of the Caja Magica and stars were lunching by candlelight in the player restaurant.

The power dropped just as Coco Gauff was explaining what she had for breakfast, after beating Belinda Bencic on the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, the microphone going dead in the middle of her post-match interview live on Sky Sports.

Over on the main Manolo Santana Stadium, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley had just broken Grigor Dimitrov as he served for the match when a loud bang was heard in the stadium.

Umpire Adel Nour announced that the power had gone down, meaning the electronic line calling system was disabled.

Last year this would not have been an issue because technology was considered unnecessary on clay, where the umpire would check the ball’s mark on the court if a linejudge’s call were queried.

After almost 10 minutes of waiting in vain for the power to come back on, Nour decided to get on with things and call the lines himself.

Another problem emerged. The so-called ‘spider cam’ which swoops down to record aerial footage before levitating once the ball is in play, was frozen close to the court and could not be moved manually.

Tournament referee Cedric Mourier came on court and decided play could not continue with the camera in players’ eyeline, so Fearnley and Dimitrov were sent back to the locker room as play was halted on all courts.

Gradually news filtered through that the power cut was far more serious and there was no possibility of play continuing until the power was back on. There were pictures circulating of massive traffic deadlocks in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles as the traffic lights had gone down. Six hundred kilometers away in Estoril, Portugal, the start of the Challenger event was also delayed.

In Madrid play was officially cancelled for the day just before 5pm local time and fans were advised to leave the site for their own safety. 

‘The lack of electricity supply has generated an operational collapse in infrastructures nationwide, including the Caja Magica,’ read a tournament statement. 

‘The organization, in contact with the authorities, has been forced to suspend play in order to guarantee the safety of the players, fans and workers.’

Data from Spain’s national grid showed a drop of 26GW to 12GW in a matter of seconds. 'Plans to restore the electricity supply have been activated in collaboration with companies in the sector following the zero that occurred in the peninsular system,’ the national grid said in a statement on X.

'The causes are being analysed and all resources are being dedicated to solving it. We will continue to report.'

So, far greater issues are at stake than the loss of momentum in a Scotsman’s tennis match, but the timing was unfortunate for Fearnley nonetheless. 

When Europe is fully powered once again, presumably by Tuesday morning, he will resume serving at 4-6, 4-5. 

Cam Norrie and Jack Draper were due to play on Monday too but their matches will be held over.