Madrid Open matches cancelled as organisers release statement after power cut | Tennis | Sport
Organisers of the Madrid Open have cancelled all of the day and night session matches following a mass power outage. Electricity went out across parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, wreaking havoc at the joint ATP-WTA 1000 event. Matches were suspended and players were taken off of the courts before the tournament decided to scrap play altogether, issuing a statement explaining the decision.
It means British stars Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley will have to come back and complete their third-round matches another day. Draper and Norrie had not started when the power cut hit, while Fearnley was serving to stay in the match against No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov when play was suspended.
There was less than two hours’ worth of play on the courts inside the Caja Magica when the power cut hit and matches were suspended. The Madrid Open has now confirmed that all matches have been cancelled, issuing a statement 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 28 April has forced the cancellation of both the day and night sessions at the Mutua Madrid Open,” it read.
On the main Manolo Santana Stadium, Dimitrov had a match point on Fearnley’s serve and then got broken while serving for the match before play was suspended at 6-4 5-4.
On the second-biggest court, the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, Coco Gauff had just booked her spot in her first Madrid Open quarter-final, beating Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2 before the power failed.
The world No. 4 was in the middle of her on-court interview, talking through her match day routine when the audio suddenly cut out. Gauff appeared confused, but she later learned of the mass power failure and took to Instagram to share footage from the pitch black players’ locker room.
Matteo Arnaldi’s clash with Damir Dzumhur on Court 4 was also suspended with the Italian leading by a set and a break. But they were able to resume the match with the chair umpire manually calling all of the lines and keeping track of the score, and Arnaldi won 6-3 6-4.
Because the match was on one of the smaller outside courts, it was not affected by the lack of light, though the automatic line calling system was down.
When the system malfunctions for any reason, an ATP Tour supervisor has the power to allow play to continue with the umpire calling the lines.
Arnaldi and Dzumhur were given the go-ahead to continue under the watchful eye of experienced official Mohamed Lahyani, while ATP scores also confirmed that a doubles match on nearby Court 6 was completed.
American duo Christian Harrison and Evan King beat Aussie pair Matt Ebden and John Peers 6-4 7-6(5).
All round-of-16 matches in the women’s draw were due to be played on Monday, including Iga Swiatek vs Diana Shnaider and Aryna Sabalenka vs Peyton Stearns.
The third-round matches in the bottom half of the men’s draw were also on the schedule, including Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Lorenzo Musetti and Alex de Minaur vs Denis Shapovalov.
Tournament organisers have yet to confirm whether play can go ahead on Tuesday, or what the new schedule will be.
