MADRID — Former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was making ready to bathe in a darkish locker room after play on the Madrid Open tennis match was suspended after which postponed Monday attributable to a significant energy outage in Spain and Portugal.
Then Gauff realized that the water was off, too.
“So I simply needed to take child wipes and wipe myself,” Gauff stated, “and spray some fragrance and name it a day.”
Gauff managed to beat Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 shortly earlier than the outage started. Then the 2023 U.S. Open champion posted an Instagram story exhibiting solely an emergency gentle working in an in any other case darkish locker room.
The ATP Tour stated that two singles matches and one doubles match had been underway when energy went out at 12:34 p.m. native time (1034 GMT).
“The minimize is stopping using digital line calling methods and likewise left a spider cam dangling over the courtroom inside Manolo Santana Stadium,” the ATP added.
The match stated later that all the day’s matches had been postponed “as a way to assure basic security.”
Grigor Dimitrov was main Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 5-4 inside the principle stadium when play was stopped. Additionally, Matteo Arnaldi was main Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 3-2 when play was suspended. That match later continued — apparently with guide line calling — and Arnaldi received 6-3, 6-4.
The doubles match was additionally accomplished and a few gamers had been practising regardless of the outage. Just a few individuals remained within the stands to observe.
The outage knocked out subway networks, cellphone traces, visitors lights and ATM machines.
Spanish energy distributor Pink Eléctrica stated restoring energy to giant elements of the nation after the outage may take as much as 10 hours.
The corporate declined to take a position on the causes of the blackout.
Gauff additionally posted a photograph of candles being distributed.
“I don’t assume we’re even going to have the ability to return to the lodge as a result of the visitors lights are out,” Gauff stated. “It’s simply loopy how a lot we rely on electrical energy. It’s actually insane and places it in perspective.”
One other fourth-round girls’s match was additionally accomplished earlier than the blackout: Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4.
Second-ranked Iga Swiatek “sat within the darkened gamers’ lounge, speaking with members of her workforce,” forward of her scheduled match in opposition to Diana Shnaider, the WTA Tour stated.
Swiatek and Shnaider had been scheduled to play in the principle stadium after the Dimitrov-Fearnley match.
Prime-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had been scheduled to play Peyton Stearns later.
