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Stock image: MADRID, SPAIN – MAY 6 : The Caja Magica tennis centre during a break at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open WTA Premier tennis tournament.
Credit: Jimmie48 Photography, Shutterstock
Chaos at the Madrid Open – Tennis stars trapped in cages, matches canned and candlelit meals after historic blackout
It was lights out and game over at the Mutua Madrid Open on April 28, as Spain was plunged into darkness during one of the biggest blackouts in its history – leaving tennis stars stuck in lifts, eating by candlelight, and fans fumbling in the dark!
Spain, Portugal, and even parts of southern France were hit by the mammoth power outage just after lunchtime on Monday, April 28, grinding daily life – and the tennis tournament – to a screeching halt.
The blackout struck around 12:32 PM, cutting power to 60% of the country in seconds, and sending chaos rippling through hospitals, airports, motorways and, of course, the courts at La Caja Mágica.
“A nationwide blackout of this scale has never happened before in Spain,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed, according to NPR.
Matches that have been abandoned and the stars Dark
Floodlights went out in the middle of a match, causing chaos at the Mutua Madrid Open. At the Manolo Santana Stadium in Madrid, Grigor Dimitrov’s showdown with Jacob Fearnley ended just as Fearnley served to remain alive.
Meanwhile, over on the Arantxa Sánchez Vicario court, Damir Dzumhur’s clash with Matteo Arnaldi was also canned.
The gloomy weather caused the suspension of the doubles match between Matthew Ebden, Evan King and John Peers.
Luckily, Coco Gauff managed to wrap up her match against Belinda Bencic before the lights went out for good – but her post-match interview was plunged into darkness mid-sentence, leaving the teenage ace visibly shaken.
Sky Sports’ Gigi Sail via MSN reported that “everyone was in darkness.” “Players eat by candlelight to see what’s in their mouths.”
Stars trapped and stranded.
The 36-year-old Brazilian tennis player Fernando Romboli was trapped in an elevator for 30 minutes when the blackout hit.
Posting a grinning selfie on Instagram, Romboli somehow laughed off the situation – but it was no joke for others around the country stuck in lifts, with no lights or even working traffic signals.
The players’ lounge, which is usually a buzzing place for the players, was transformed into a medieval banquet by the candlelight dinners of those who could not leave the venue.
Coco Gauff, meanwhile, gave her fans a glimpse into the chaos by sharing photos that showed the gridlocked roads with the traffic lights dead and in the dark.
Spain declares emergency as mystery deepening
On the street, ATMs stopped spitting out cash, airports went to meltdown and mobile phone networks were down.
The Spanish government declared the state of emergency yesterday night. It warned that some areas could wait days to get power back while others might have it within hours.
What caused this? The authorities are still puzzled.
Some early speculation has suggested that rare atmospheric phenomena may have interfered with high-voltage cables, sending temperature-induced surges throughout the national grid. The blackout didn’t just break records – it broke Spain’s national nerve.
One for history books
Tennis fans may have expected epic battles on the court – but no one anticipated the biggest showdown would be man and woman versus dark.
What about the players who ate by candlelight?
They can at least Now Add “survived The Great Spanish Blackout” as a career highlight.
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