- The power outage occured in the middle of Coco Gauff’s post-match interview
- Power gradually returned to Spain after Monday’s blackout with play restarting
The morning after one of the strangest days in tennis history, some sort of normality resumed at the Madrid Open.
As power gradually returned to Spain after Monday’s massive blackout, play was due to restart at 12 noon local time, 11am UK time, one hour later than scheduled.
The main Manolo Santana court has six matches on a packed schedule, including Jacob Fearnley’s resumption against Grigor Dimitrov, with the Scot serving to stay in the match at 4-6, 4-5 down.
Coco Gauff was one of the lucky ones to get her match done early enough on Monday – the power outage occurred in the middle of her post-match interview.
With everything down at the Caja Magica, these elite athletes – so used to the five-star treatment – were forced to rough it.
Gauff told reporters: ‘So far, the toughest thing has been not been able to shower after my match. There’s no running water so I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself, spray some perfume and call it a day.
Play resumed in the Madrid Open today following a massive power outage in Spain yesterday
The Madrid Open was plunged into darkness with matches delayed ‘to guarantee safety’
Players were later seen dining by candlelight at the tournament in Madrid following the outage
‘I don’t even think we’ll be able to go back to the hotel as the traffic lights are out. So it’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity. It’s really insane.
‘It puts that in perspective and also makes me think about the humans that lived before electricity and how impressive that is.’
The 21-year-old American later said on Instagram that she did manage to make it back to her hotel on foot, after abandoning a one hour and 45 minute taxi journey with traffic at a standstill.
No7 seed Mirra Andreeva, who will face Gauff in a blockbuster quarter-final on Wednesday, managed to finish her match even after the blackout occurred. Serving for the match when the power went, Andreeva and her Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva were told that, with electronic linecalling disabled, they would have to call their own lines with the umpire intervening if necessary.
Fans streamed out of La Caja Magica in the dark after the outage stopped play for the day
American Coco Gauff was one of the lucky ones to get her match done early enough yesterday
Andreeva was told she would have to call her own lines with electronic linecalling disabled
‘It was 15-40 on my serve and I was like: ‘Oh, Mirra. Just please, please do everything in your power to just take this game and finish this match,’” said Andreeva. ‘I knew if it would go to 5-5, probably we would have to wait.’
With players eating by candlelight and milling around the gym using camera torches to see, Andreeva reported an atmosphere of camaraderie in the usually businesslike backstage areas.
‘I was in the gym and it’s super dark, everyone is using phones with flashlights, but it’s also kind of fun because everyone is talking to each other and the atmosphere is a little more friendly,’ said Andreeva.
