Tennis star ‘stuck in lift’ during Madrid Open power outage with play cancelled

Brazilian tennis player Fernando Romboli was left ‘stuck in a lift’ during the Madrid Open power outage with Monday’s play now fully cancelled.

A massive power cut has hit large parts of Spain and Portugal with tennis stars – including Britain’s Jacob Fearnley – dramatically forced off court.

Play was initially suspended but has now been cancelled for the day as Spain and Portugal attempt to restore electricity in both European nations.

Portugal’s grid operator, REN, said that ‘extreme temperature variations’ had produced a ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’ that caused the issue.

Fernando Romboli stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes

Romboli, a Brazilian tennis player who specialises in doubles, was left stranded in a lift for half an hour during the power cuts, L’Equipe reported.

The 36-year-old entered the elevator just as the major power outage hit several regions of the country at around 12.30pm local time.

It marked a terrible stroke of luck for Romboli – ranked world No.62 in doubles – but he was eventually able to escape around 1pm local time.

Coco Gauff post-match interview plunged into silence

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff was left visibly startled during her on-court interview when the power outage hit the Madrid Open.

A clip has gone viral on social media of Gauff looking shocked as she spoke on court in the Spanish capital after defeating Belinda Bencic.

The American world No.4 was caught off-guard by the incident, stepping back and covering her mouth as the TV feed dramatically lost audio.

Jacob Fearnley’s match interrupted at critical stage

British tennis star Fearnley was in the middle of a tight encounter with Grigor Dimitrov when their third-round showdown was suspended.

Fearnley broke the 15th-seed’s serve to stay in the match shortly before the outage hit with the duo unable to complete their clash on Monday.

The tournament later cancelled play for the day, posting on X: ‘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.’

‘Tennis stars eating by candlelight in player restaurant’

Tennis journalist Gigi Salmon, out in Madrid covering the tournament for Sky Sports, explained how tennis stars were left eating by candlelight in the player restaurant following the power outage.

‘Everyone is in darkness,’ she said. ‘I walked past the player restaurant and the players are eating much by candlelight so that they can actually see what they’re eating.’

Follow live updates from Spain-Portugal power cut

You can follow live updates about the Spain-Portugal power cut with our dedicated blog here.

The incident is thought to be Europe’s largest ever power outage – caused by extreme weather – grounding flights, halting trains and leaving millions without vital services.

The president of the EU Council and the Portuguese Prime Minister say there’s ‘no indication’ of a cyber attack.