A large power outage affected the city of Madrid, causing the Madrid Open tennis tournament to be interrupted.
The unexpected blackout caused the scoreboards and overhead cameras at the event to stop working. Consequently, the round of 32 match at Manolo Santana Stadium, where fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov was leading Jacob Fearnley with a scoreline of 6-4, 5-4, had to be stopped, as a spidercam was left hanging too low over the court, creating a safety issue.
Meanwhile, fourth seed Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 6-2 win over Belinda Bencic. However, her post-match interview at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium was cut short when the microphone stopped working due to the power outage.
Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated Novak Djokovic in his previous match, was leading 6-3, 3-2 against Damir Dzumhur when their round of 32 match was also stopped by the power failure.
The ATP later confirmed that the blackout disrupted more than just interviews. It affected even the electronic line-calling systems, which are used to help make accurate decisions during matches.
Fans at the Manzanares Park Tennis Centre also felt the impact, sharing photos on social media of pitch-black hallways, showing just how widespread the outage was throughout the tournament grounds.
The ATP said on its official website, “Two singles matches and one doubles match at the ATP Masters 1000 event were underway when power was lost at 12:34 p.m. local time.”
In social media, Madrid Open posted, “For reasons beyond the control of the organisation and in order to guarantee general safety, the nationwide power-cut experienced in Spain on Monday 28 April has forced the cancellation of both the day and night sessions at the Mutua Madrid Open.”
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In the comments section, netizens raised questions about the postponed events, with one asking, “Can anyone tell me if today’s tickets (cancelled) are valid for tomorrow? (as translated)”
Some also demanded compensation, saying: “How are you gonna compensate tennis fans who fly to Madrid for the 28th match? Just like me. 😢” Others wanted to know, “When and how will today’s ticket refunds be made? (translated)”, and “We demand refunds of tickets today (translated).”
Local media in Madrid reported that the power outage caused widespread disruptions beyond just the tennis tournament. It affected traffic lights, some airports, and sections of the Madrid underground metro system.
Red Eléctrica, Spain’s power grid operator, stated that it was collaborating with energy companies to restore power and resolve the situation as quickly as possible.