A power blackout hit most of the Iberian Peninsula on Monday around 12.30pm local time, forcing Spain and Portugal to declare a state of emergency and stopping action at the Mutua Madrid Open in its tracks.
There’s no running water so I just had to take baby wipes, and wipe myself, and spray some perfume, and call it a day. I don’t think we’re even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out. It’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity, it’s really insane, and puts it in perspective. Also makes me think about the humans before electricity, and how impressive that is. Coco Gauff
The mass blackout upended the lives of tens of millions of people for hours as traffic and transport came to a standstill and left many without water, Wi-Fi, or mobile network.
Portuguese grid operator REN said there was a “very large oscillation in the electrical voltages, first in the Spanish system, which then spread to the Portuguese system.”
The power outage halted play at Madrid, forcing the remaining matches to be postponed until Tuesday.
Monday was the day when all 16 women remaining in the draw were scheduled to play, but the lights went out, causing the electronic line-calling system and scoreboards to stop working, amidst a myriad of other services such as lights, showers, and elevators.
The spider-cam, a camera which hangs low over the air show court, became stuck in a low position and was in the players’ eye-lines, prompting organisers to deem it unsafe to continue play, and those on court were led back to the locker room.
Spectators had to cope with dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Centre, and only those with cash could buy food and drinks as credit card terminals could not work.
Gigi Salmon, speaking on Sky Sports News, said: “Everyone is in darkness. I walked past the player restaurant and the players are eating by candlelight so that they can actually see what they’re eating.”
Organisers later cancelled play for the day, explaining on social media: “For reasons beyond the control of the organisation and in order to guarantee general safety, the nationwide power-cut experienced in Spain on Monday April 28 has forced the cancellation of both the day and night sessions at the Mutua Madrid Open.”
Coco Gauff beat Belinda Bencic in straight sets and was cut-off in her on-court interview when the power outage hit in Madrid on Monday just after Noon.
© Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images
Two of the women’s eight 4th-round matches were completed just ahead of the blackout, which began a little after Noon.
No 4 seed Coco Gauff defeated Belinda Bencic, 6-4 6-2, while 7th-seeded Mirra Andreeva was a 6-1 6-4 winner over qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Gauff and Andreeva, the two youngest players in the Top 30, will face each other for the 3rd time in the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals.
World No 2 Iga Swiatek sat in the darkened players’ lounge, talking with members of her team, as she waited for the conclusion of the suspended match between Grigor Dimitrov and qualifier Jacob Fearnley in Manolo Santana Stadium.
It was the 3rd encounter of the season between Gauff and Bencic this season, but the first time they had ever played on clay.
Following her win on Monday, Gauff now leads their overall head-to-head, 3-2, and the 2025 head-to-head, 2-1.
In a relatively straightforward affair, Gauff outplayed Bencic on serve, return and off the ground, bringing up 14 break chances on the Swiss delivery, converting 4, while only facing one herself.
The American struck 25 winners to Bencic’s 10, and won 85% of her first-serve points, compared to the Swiss’s 60%.
Gauff’s relentless punishment of the Bencic second serve was key, as she found 3 clean return winners to break for the first time for 4-2 in the first set, and another to break for 3-1 in the second, while the Swiss former Olympic Gold medalist was ultimately only able to win 4 points behind her second delivery.
This latest installment of her back-and-forth rivalry with Bencic books Gauff her place in the Last 8 of Madrid for the first time.
The 20-year-old American has now reached the quarter-finals of every WTA 1000 tournament on the current calendar, except Miami.
Gauff was in the midst of her on-court interview when the microphone died, and Security quickly ushered her back to the players’ lounge.
“It was pitch-black, and I got the gist that the power went out,” Gauff said. “I thought it was just us, and then I realised it was the whole country – that’s just insane.”
Mirra Andreeva got past qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva in 2 sets, completing the last 4 points after the outage hit.
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Just after Gauff wrapped up her win, Andreeva followed with her defeat of Starodubtseva, a Ukrainian qualifier, to return to the quarter-finals for a 2nd year in a row.
Andreeva delivered a cool, clutch performance to keep a lid on a dangerous opponent she had never faced before, and whose drop-shot worked wonders on several occasions.
Blending power and finesse, Starodubtseva laid down a statement of intent by bringing up 3 break points in the very first game of the match, but Andreeva’s ability to deliver the perfect tactics for every scoreboard occasion is one of her greatest strengths, and the teenager did it again here.
Despite Starodubtseva’s repeated threat, Andreeva saved 9 out of 9 break points against her.
In the first set, the young Russian played careful, consistent tennis to lure her 99th-ranked opponent into error on big points.
In the second, as the scoreline grew tighter, Andreeva was more creative and aggressive, matching Starodubtseva with fine drop-shots of her own.
Andreeva is already a two-time WTA 1000 champion this year, having lifted the trophies in Dubai and Indian Wells, and celebrates her 18th birthday on Tuesday.
Minutes after Gauff’s match point, the tournament was hit by the widespread power cut, which occurred as Andreeva was serving for the match, but the Russian managed to save 4 break points to get over the line before play was paused on all courts.
“It was 15-40 on my serve,” Andreeva later told reporters. “I was like, ‘Oh, Mirra, please, please, do everything in your power to take this game, and finish the match.’ Because I knew that if it would go to 5-5, probably, we would have to wait, and I would be here yet.”
Spectators flocked to the practice courts where the only action took place due to the impact of the power blackout on Monday afternoon.
© Julian Finney/Getty Images
Andreeva and Gauff have not met since 2023, the Russian’s break-through season on the Hologic WTA Tour, with both of their previous encounters coming on the major stage.
Andreeva qualified for Roland Garros 2023 to make her Grand Slam main-draw debut, and her run was only halted by Gauff, 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1, in the 3rd round.
Gauff repeated the result with a 6-3 6-2 win in the US Open 2nd round 3 months later.
Two years on, they will meet as Top 10 players for the first time, with Andreeva currently on a 5-match winning streak against Top 10 opposition, while Gauff has lost her only previous 2025 match with another Top 10 player to Jasmine Paolini in last week’s Stuttgart quarter-finals.
“Last time I faced her on clay was Roland Garros 2023,” Andreeva said. “The first set was tight, but the rest of the match was, like, —ehhh. She didn’t give me a chance. But it was two years ago, so I’m just super excited to not take revenge but to see how different I play. I think it’s going to be an entertaining match.”
Andreeva is through to the quarter-finals here for the second straight year.
“This year, going to try to advance further,” she said. “I’m going to do everything possible to win this.”
While chaos reigned outside the site, with traffic lights, internet, rail systems and airports all shut down, there was a sense of community, driven by their shared experience, among the players.
“Everyone is using the phones with flashlights,” Andreeva said, “But it’s also, kind of, fun because everyone is talking together, the atmosphere is a little bit more friendly.”
Gauff added: “I was literally thinking the same thing. Most of the time we’re trying to prepare for our matches, everyone’s zoned in, and we all understand that, I was talking to Frances [Tiafoe], talking to Mirra, too, Diana [Shnaider], Maddy [Keys]. This is the type of situation, it’s light-hearted, nobody knows when they’re going to go on.”
Andreeva was happy to have a book and some Uno cards to pass the time.
“This is my first blackout,” she said. “It’s actually, kind of, exciting because I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’m super happy that they put me first so I got to finish everything on time. But I don’t want to spend the night here, and sleep in the gym, but we’re going to see what they tell us, and just go from there.”
Traffic was at a stand-still on the motorways around Madrid during the power blackout, making it difficult for players to reach their hotels from La Caja Magica on Monday.
© Julian Finney/Getty Images
On Sunday, Gauff requested the schedulers to place her match second in the order of play.
“But I’m glad that request didn’t go through,” she said, laughing. “Shout-out to the WTA supervisors for making the right decision for me!”
The greatest hardship was the inability to take a post-match shower.
“There’s no running water so I just had to take baby wipes, and wipe myself,” Gauff explained, “And spray some perfume, and call it a day. I don’t think we’re even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out. It’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity; it’s really insane, and puts it in perspective. Also makes me think about the humans before electricity and how impressive that is.”
Power began returning to households in Spain and neighbouring Portugal, hours after cities across the Iberian Peninsula were plunged into darkness in one of Europe’s most severe outages.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of the blackout, which remains unclear, but authorities denied foul play and rumours of a cyber attack.
By Tuesday morning, more than 99% of the power supply was restored, Spain’s main operator said, with power back in 6.2 million out of 6.5 million households in Portugal.
A packed schedule is on the cards for Tuesday, as the Madrid Open plays catch-up, with action beginning at 11am BST.
