MADRID: Play at the Madrid Open was cancelled on Monday after a widespread power outage struck the Spanish capital, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and his British opponent Jacob Fearnley off court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power.
The round of 32 match at the Manolo Santana Stadium where Dimitrov led Fearnley 6-4 5-4 had to be stopped due to a spidercam being left hanging too close to the court.
“The nationwide power cut experienced in Spain on Monday 28 April has forced the cancellation of both the day and night sessions,” the Madrid Open posted on X.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff, who beat Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals, had her post-match interview at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium cut short with the microphone losing power.
Electronic line calling systems were also affected by the power cut, the ATP said, while spectators shared pictures of dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Center.
“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,” the ATP said on its official website.
The top two seeds in women’s singles, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, were scheduled to play later in the day before their round of 16 clashes were postponed.
“WTA 1000, and 1000 candles,” former Australian Open quarter-finalist Marta Kostyuk wrote on an Instagram story as her match with Anastasia Potapova was also postponed.
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Matteo Arnaldi, who upset Novak Djokovic on Saturday, had his round of 32 clash with Damir Dzumhur temporarily suspended due to the power cut on Court Four, but the match was later completed with Arnaldi winning 6-3 6-4.
Local media said the power outage also affected traffic lights, oil refineries , some airports and part of the Madrid underground. Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was working with energy companies to restore power.
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