Madrid Open: Play suspended over large-scale power outage

Electronic line calling systems were also affected by the power cut while spectators shared pictures of dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Center.

Madrid: Play at the Madrid Open was suspended on Monday after a widespread power outage struck the Spanish capital, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and his British opponent Jacob Fearnley off court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power.

The round of 32 match at the Manolo Santana Stadium where Dimitrov led Fearnley 6-4, 5-4 had to be stopped due to a spidercam being left hanging too close to the court.

Fourth seed Coco Gauff, who beat Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals, had her post-match interview at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium cut short with the microphone losing power.

Electronic line calling systems were also affected by the power cut, the ATP said, while spectators shared pictures of dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Center.

"Two singles matches and one doubles match at the ATP Masters 1000 event were underway when power was lost at 12:34 p.m. local time," the ATP said on its official website.

Matteo Arnaldi, who upset Novak Djokovic on Saturday, was up 6-3, 3-2 against Damir Dzumhur when the round of 32 match was stopped.

"We are working to restore normality as soon as possible," the Madrid Open account posted on X.

Local media said the power outage also affected traffic lights, some airports and part of the Madrid underground. Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was working with energy companies to restore power. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)