Major European power outage suspends tennis at Madrid Open
by Alex Butler · UPIApril 28 (UPI) -- Major power outages across Spain, Portugal and France forced suspension of tennis matches at the 2025 Madrid Open, tournament officials announced Monday.
The outage in Madrid shut down the electronic line calling system, left shadows through the stands and resulted in dark locker rooms at the Caja Magica campus.
"The Madrid Open has been affected by the general power outage," the Madrid Open said. "We are working to restore normality as soon as possible. We will keep you informed through our social media channels."
No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria was up 6-4, 5-4 on No. 68 Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain when the blackout disrupted that Round of 32 match.
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No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States beat No. 42 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-2 just before the disruption. Gauff later posted a photo of a facility employee using candles on a serving tray to assist her after the match. she also posted a video from a dark locker room.
"There is literally no power," Gauff said in a video posted to her Instagram story. "I'm in the locker room, about to take a shower. All there is is the emergency light, but no power where the showers are. I'm about to take a shower and I'll let you know how it goes."
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States are among the other top women's players with Monday matches.
No. 6 Jack Draper of the Great Britain, No. 7 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 18 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Americans Tommy Paul (No. 12) and Francis Tiafoe (No. 17) also are scheduled to play Round of 32 matches.