Importance Score: 55 / 100 🔵
Jacob Fearnley has not competed as a full-time professional for an entire year, yet on an unforgettable Monday afternoon in Madrid, he encountered a peculiar situation that many top-tier players globally might find challenging to surmount.
Play-Jacob Fearnley, a contender in the Madrid Open qualifiers, was mounting a valiant comeback against the seasoned 14th seed, Grigor Dimitrov when the city and nation were brought to a standstill.
Unanticipated Power Outage Disrupts Madrid Open
With Dimitrov leading 6-4, 5-4 in Manolo Santana Stadium, both athletes were escorted off the court as it became evident that Monday’s massive power outage, which left Spain and Portugal without electricity, would compel the tournament to postpone all matches for the remainder of the day. For Fearnley, this abrupt halt meant he had over 24 hours to reflect on the crucial service game: “It’s impossible not to overanalyze it,” he stated.
After approximately 10 hours without electricity and mobile internet for most individuals in Madrid, power was restored to homes and phones late on Monday night, sparking cheers in the streets. At the Caja Mágica, situated in the southern San Fermín neighborhood, electricity was re-established only around 8 AM on Tuesday, allowing play to reconvene at noon.
The Impact on Players
In the end, Fearnley managed to steer clear of the worst-case scenario—losing his service game immediately upon the restart—but he never truly settled. His remarkable qualifying run, which included his first career top-20 victory against Tomas Machac in only his second clay-court competition, concluded with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (3) defeat to Dimitrov: “I was content with how I managed the situation. Perhaps I overthought that game a bit and didn’t pause to consider if I was genuinely capable of winning the second set,” he reflected.
Frances Tiafoe
Across the Madrid Open grounds, the incident rendered a memorable tale. Frances Tiafoe was patiently awaiting his match in the player’s lounge. “We figured it was going to be a 30-minute, perhaps an hour-long issue,” he shared. “Staff started bringing candles to our table, and it became clear: ‘Spain is without power.’ I responded, ‘OK, that’s strange.’ They added more candles: ‘France is out of power.’ ‘OK, interesting.’ Then: ‘Italy’s without power.’ I exclaimed: ‘Alright, let’s stop with the candles.'”
Alex de Minaur and Jack Draper
Some players, like Alex de Minaur, were not scheduled to compete until later in the day and did not make the trip to Madrid. De Minaur took leisurely walks and opted to remain at his accommodation. Jack Draper, who reached the fourth round with a retirement win over Matteo Berrettini after taking the first set 7-6 (2), had been out for a stroll before his match, which was slated for the evening, when the power outage occurred.
“I returned to the hotel and suddenly everything went dark,” he recounted. “I had to climb 15 flights of stairs. By the time I reached my room, my legs were cramping. It took an hour and a half to drive back to the venue, where I trained briefly and then returned. I had a sandwich for dinner. It wasn’t bad to unplug from everything—no phone and just time to myself.”
A Day to Remember
As players attempted to depart the venue after play was canceled, the player restaurant and bar area became congested as athletes awaited lifts to their hotels, some of which were 15km away. A few opted to walk home, while others patiently waited. Meals were far from standard athlete nutrition: “They still had bread available. So, I consumed a lot of bread,” said Fearnley. Tiafoe, who defeated Alexandre Müller in straight sets, was more direct: “I ate utter trash,” he confessed. “Just piles of chocolate.”
Most players in Madrid acknowledged that they were simply glad to be in good health and saw no reason to stress: “Honestly, this just adds to my list of odd occurrences that have delayed a tennis match,” commented Madison Keys. “There’s nothing I could do. I took a nap, laid down, and used my phone while it still had service. Then it stopped working, and I thought, ‘Alright, another nap it is.’”