The massive power outage that swept across several parts of the Iberian Peninsula plunged the Madrid Open into darkness and chaos. Tennis stars like Coco Gauff, Marta Kostyuk, Mirra Andreeva, and several others found themselves caught in the turmoil, with some reacting in panic while others finding a little humor in these unusual circumstances. Electronic line calling systems were also affected by the power cut. But this wasn’t the first time the players encountered such a situation on the ATP Tour. In February earlier this year, Chile’s nationwide power outage halted play at the ATP event in Santiago. Back then, the nationwide power outage plunged over 90% of Chile into darkness, and the government had to declare a state of emergency. Witnessing almost a similar scene in Spain, American pro Frances Tiafoe came up with a heartfelt note for all the locals.

Although the power was restored shortly in Madrid after this massive outage, the authorities, initially, were unable to establish why the outage occurred. Later, several reports cited that it was because of a few issues with the European electric grid. As a result of that, several matches of the Madrid Open were suspended on Monday. “For reasons beyond the control of the organization 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,” said the tournament organizers in their statement.

Frances Tiafoe was supposed to take on the Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the R32, but that match got rescheduled to Tuesday. Following this bizarre situation, Tiafoe came up with a post on his IG stories to express his surprise over the whole incident. “Crazy day in Spain…Portugal….France and other surrounding countries. I hope everyone is okay after this crazy power outage. Be safe y’all sheesh a day to remember 🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️✊🏿✊🏿  Thankful for the power to be back on 🤞🏿🤞🏿🤞🏿,” he wrote.

The power outage led to a brief stoppage in Grigor Dimitrov’s match against Jacob Fearnley as well. The electronic line-calling system and scoreboards stopped working. Later, when the play was about to restart, the players were taken off due to a spider camera getting stuck in an awkward position. Oh Spideyyy!

Spectators also shared pictures of dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Center. As per the ATP, “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.”

Matteo Arnaldi’s match against Damir Dzumhur was stopped at 6-3,3-2. According to the local media, the power outage severely affected the traffic lights, some airports, and even the Madrid metro. Several players were seen dining by candlelight at the Madrid Open following the power outage. How did the other players, apart from Frances Tiafoe, react to this incident?

Frances Tiafoe’s compatriots Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz react to the massive power outage at the Madrid Open

Because of the power cut in Madrid, Coco Gauff’s microphone got shut off during the on-court interview following her 6-4,6-2 win over Belinda Bencic, and she then quickly rushed back to the players’ lounge. Elaborating on the whole incident, Gauff said, “It was pitch-black, and I got the gist that the power went out. I thought it was just us and then I realised it was the whole country, that’s just insane.”

Continuing further, she added, “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. 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.“

Taylor Fritz, who was scheduled to take on Casper Ruud in the R16, hilariously posted, “Have they tried unplugging and plugging it back in?“

Mirra Andreeva was serving for her match against Yuliia Starodubtseva when the power outage occurred. Speaking on the whole incident, the Russian said, “It was 15-40 on my serve. I was like, ‘Oh, Mirra, please do everything in your power to take this game and finish the match. I knew that if it went to 5-5 we probably would have to wait, and I would be here still. Everyone is using their phones with flashlights, but it’s kind of fun because everyone is talking together, and the atmosphere is a little bit more friendly.“ 

Marta Kostyuk shared a humorous post referring to the whole incident as “WTA 1000 and 1000 candles.” Iga Swiatek sat in the darkened players’ lounge, talking with her team members ahead of her match against Diana Shnaider. Croatian tennis star Donna Vekic shared her coach Sasch Bajin’s bemused reaction as they ate by candlelight.

Well, the players had an unfamiliar experience for sure, and most of them chose to see the lighter side of it. Hopefully, the rest of the tournament goes on smoothly.