Mumbai, April 29: Former US Open champion Coco Gauff was preparing to shower in a dark locker room after play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended and then postponed because of a major power outage in Spain and Portugal. Then Gauff realized that the water was off, too. Gauff managed to beat Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2 shortly before the outage, which apparently cut off the sound as she was giving a post-match interview on the court. Alexander Zverev Gets Warning From Umpire for Taking Photo of Ball Mark at Madrid Open 2025 (Watch Video).

"So I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself,: Gauff said on Monday, "and spray some perfume and call it a day."

Then the 2023 US Open champion posted an Instagram story showing only an emergency light working in an otherwise dark locker room. The ATP Tour said that two singles matches and one doubles match were underway when power went out at 12:34 p.m. local time (1034 GMT).

Major Power Outage at Madrid Open 2025

"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 organisers said they "had no choice but to suspend/cancel all sporting activity in order to guarantee the safety of the players, fans and personnel." They recommended all spectators leave the sports complex.

The event is scheduled to resume on Tuesday. There will be third-round matches in the top of the draw, and fourth-round matches in the bottom of the draw.

Grigor Dimitrov was leading Jacob Fearnley 6-4 5-4 inside the main stadium when play was stopped. Also, Matteo Arnaldi was leading Damir Dzumhur 6-3 3-2 when play was suspended. That match later continued — apparently with manual line calling — and Arnaldi won 6-3 6-4.

The doubles match was also completed and some players were practicing despite the outage. A a few people remained in the stands to watch.

The blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.

Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said restoring power to large parts of the country after the outage could take up to 10 hours. The company declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout. Gauff also posted a photo of candles being distributed.

Coco Gauff Official Tweet

"I don't think we're even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out. It's just crazy how much we depend on electricity. It's really insane and puts it in perspective." Gauff said.

Another fourth-round women's match was also completed before the blackout: Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1 6-4.

Second-ranked Iga Swiatek "sat in the darkened players' lounge, talking with members of her team," ahead of her scheduled match against Diana Shnaider, the WTA Tour said.

Swiatek and Shnaider had been scheduled to play in the main stadium after the Dimitrov-Fearnley match. Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had been scheduled to play Peyton Stearns later.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)