Power Outage Delays Matches at Mutua Madrid Open

MADRID, Spain — The Mutua Madrid Open faced a significant disruption on Monday due to a widespread power outage impacting parts of Spain, Portugal, and southern France. As a result, six Round of 16 matches were suspended, halting a much-anticipated day of tennis.

Only two matches were completed before the interruption. No. 4 seed Coco Gauff triumphed over Belinda Bencic with a score of 6-4, 6-2, and No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva secured a victory against Yuliia Starodubtseva.

The remaining matches resumed on Tuesday, allowing top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek to join the quarterfinals. Sabalenka, the No. 1 seed, defeated Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-4, marking her 28th win of the season — leading the tour in match victories.

Swiatek, the No. 2 seed, conquered No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider in a three-set battle that ended 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4. This victory extended her impressive streak to 17 consecutive quarterfinals on clay.

Madison Keys, the No. 5 seed, delivered a strong performance against No. 19 Donna Vekic, winning 6-2, 6-3. Keys now joins the ranks of American players surpassing 25 WTA 1000 match wins on clay, alongside tennis legend Serena Williams.

No. 17 Elina Svitolina earned her place in the quarterfinals after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-4. Prior to this season, Svitolina had never won consecutive matches at the Madrid Open in her nine previous appearances.

Moyuka Uchijima upset No. 21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, winning with a close score of 6-4, 7-6 (5). Uchijima’s success marks more WTA quarterfinal appearances in two weeks than she has had in her entire career.

These developments highlight the fierce competition at the Madrid Open, and fans can expect more thrilling matches as the tournament progresses.