Swiatek, Sabalenka Facing Bizarre Situation In Madrid As Power Outage Halts Play
NewsMonday, 28 April 2025 at 16:22
Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and all other players have to deal with a very bizarre situation at the 2025 Madrid Open after a power outage stopped the play.
Tennis tournaments, like everything in the world today, are largely dependant on electricity. That claim is even more true this year, as the vast majority of the tournaments have a live electronic line calling, which depends on electricity.
Of course, most of the time, that isn't a problem, but it becomes a problem when there is a power outage. That's exactly what happened during the ongoing Madrid Open, as both Spain and parts of Portugal are suffering blackouts.
The power outage came shortly after Coco Gauff won her fourth-round match against Belinda Bencic. The American player was giving an on-court interview when the power went out, and she wasn't able to finish it.
After Gauff, Cameron Norrie and Gabriel Diallo were supposed to play on the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, but the play was suspended all over La Caja Magica. At the Manolo Santana Stadium (the venue's main court), Grigor Dimitrov leads 6-4, 5-4 over Jacob Fearnley.
After that match, Iga Swiatek should take on Diana Shnaider on the same stadium, and Aryna Sabalenka should play against Peyton Stearns, unless the schedule changes because of the power outage.
These, but many other players, were impacted by the sudden power outage, but they are not the only ones. Tennis fans and some players at the venue literally had to use flashlights on their phones and candles to see in the dark.
Marta Kostyuk, who should play the third match on Stadium 3, posted a picture of herself holding a candle online, as those were distributed across the venue.
The tournament organizers are currently postponing the play, waiting for the power outage to end. However, there is also an option for the play to continue even without power.
According to the official rules, if the supervisor and the chair umpire assess that the LIVE ELC won't be available in a reasonable time, the match can continue with line umpires, if some are available at the venue, or the chair umpire calling all the lines.
"If it is deemed the system will not be available in a reasonable time, the supervisor/referee will decide on another option. These could include suspending the match, moving the match to another court, using line umpires (if available), postponing the match or continuing the match without the system and the chair umpire calling ALL the lines."
That is exactly what happened in a match on Court 4, as Mohamed Lahyani oversaw a match between Damir Dzumhur and Matteo Arnaldi, which ended with Arnaldi's 6-3, 6-4 win, with Lahyani calling the lines.
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