Spain power outage: Tennis players in the dark at Madrid Open as matches suspended

Former U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff faces challenges in Madrid Open due to power outage, leading to suspension of play.

Former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was preparing to shower in a dark locker room after play at the Madrid Open was suspended and then postponed Monday (April 28, 2025) due to a major power outage in Spain and Portugal.

Then Gauff realized the water was off, too.

“So I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself,” Gauff said, “and spray some perfume and call it a day.”

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. Then the 2023 U.S. Open champion posted an Instagram story showing only an emergency light working in an otherwise dark locker room.

The power went out at 12:34 p.m. local time (1034 GMT), stopping two ATP singles matches and one doubles match that were underway. For the day, a total of 22 matches had to be canceled.

“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 organizers said they "had no choice but to suspend/cancel all sporting activity in order to guarantee the safety of the players, fans and personnel." Spectators were told to leave the sports complex.