Former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was making ready to bathe in a dark locker room after play at the Madrid Open was suspended after which postponed Monday (April 28, 2025) on account of a significant 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 stated, “and spray some perfume and call it a day.”
Gauff managed to beat Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 shortly earlier than the outage, which apparently lower off the sound as she was giving a post-match interview on the court docket. Then the 2023 U.S. Open champion posted an Instagram story displaying solely an emergency mild working in an in any other case dark locker room.
Fans are seen after the matches get suspended on account of a power outage
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
The power went out at 12:34 p.m. native time (1034 GMT), stopping two ATP singles matches and one doubles match that have been underway. For the day, a complete of twenty-two matches needed 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 stated they “had no choice but to suspend/cancel all sporting activity in order to guarantee the safety of the players, fans and personnel.” Spectators have been informed to go away the sports activities advanced.
Power was restored at night time via most components of Madrid, and organizers stated play will resume on Tuesday.
Second-ranked Alexander Zverev, a two-time Madrid Open champion, will face Francisco Cerundolo, whereas Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev may also be in motion.
On the ladies’s facet, the remaining six fourth-matches have been anticipated to be performed on Tuesday, together with top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka dealing with Peyton Stearns and second-ranked Iga Swiatek taking up Diana Shnaider.
When play was stopped, Grigor Dimitrov was main Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 5-4 inside the major stadium. Also, Matteo Arnaldi was main Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 3-2 however that match continued later — apparently with guide line calling — and Arnaldi received 6-3, 6-4.
The doubles was additionally accomplished and a few players practiced regardless of the outage.
The blackout introduced a lot of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, knocking out subway networks, telephone strains, visitors lights and ATM machines.
Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica declined to take a position on the reason behind the blackout.
Meanwhile, Gauff additionally posted a photograph 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 ladies’s match was additionally accomplished earlier than the blackout: Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4.
Published – April 29, 2025 06:55 am IST
