Former US Open champion Coco Gauff was making ready to bathe in a darkish locker room after play on the Madrid Open tennis match was suspended after which postponed due to a serious energy outage in Spain and Portugal.
US Coco Gauff returns the ball(AFP)
Then Gauff realized that the water was off, too.
“So I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself,: Gauff said on Monday, “and spray some fragrance and name 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 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).
“The lower is stopping using digital line calling programs and likewise left a spider cam dangling over the court docket inside Manolo Santana Stadium,” the ATP added.
Tournament organisers said they “had no selection however to droop/cancel all sporting exercise with a view to assure the protection of the gamers, followers 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.
“I do not suppose we’re even going to have the ability to return to the lodge as a result of the site visitors lights are out,” Gauff said.
“It is simply loopy how a lot we rely on electrical energy. It is actually insane and places it in perspective.”
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 within the darkened gamers’ lounge, speaking with members of her staff,” forward of her scheduled match towards Diana Shnaider, the WTA Tour mentioned.
Swiatek and Shnaider had been scheduled to play in the principle stadium after the Dimitrov-Fearnley match.
High-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had been scheduled to play Peyton Stearns later.