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When Coco Gauff went into her fourth-round match at the Madrid Open, the last thing she or any player would've expected was to have anything steal the spotlight from the play on the clay court. But as Gauff's microphone went out during her post-match interview, that's exactly what happened.
“It was pitch-black, and I got the gist that the power went out. I thought it was just us, and then I realized it was the whole country,” Gauff began. “That's just insane.”
The exact moment Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe lost power. pic.twitter.com/B0O4oQDHfh
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 28, 2025
The outage didn't just affect Spain or the Iberian Peninsula, but much of Europe as well, leaving tens of millions in the dark and without access to internet, rail systems, or air travel.
Early explanations suspect that issues with the European electric grid led to the blackout. Gauff, meanwhile, took to Instagram to document her perspective of the experience.
“There's literally no power. I'm literally in the locker room about to take a shower,” Gauff explained. “All of this is just emergency light right here,” she continued. “There is no power where the showers are. I'm about to take a shower, and I'll let you know how it goes.”
Gauff came back to report her adventure to fans who were eagerly awaiting more behind-the-scenes information.
“There's no running water, so I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself and spray some perfume and call it a day,” Gauff later updated. “I don't think we're even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out.”
Gauff posted a video on her Instagram story of her walking through the streets of Madrid with a caption explaining how she left the car she was in after spending almost two hours in traffic, which was caused by non-functioning traffic lights.
“It's just crazy how much we depend on electricity,” the 21-year-old mused. “It's really insane and puts it in perspective. Also makes me think about the humans before electricity and how impressive that is.”
Gauff concluded her statements with the silver lining, “That's tennis, that's life,” while making light of the day's inconveniences.
“I feel like, at this point, this is only a situation you can laugh at,” Gauff said. “Because it's probably not going to happen ever again, and we'll always remember the day the power went out at Madrid Open.”
The World No. 4 had already taken out Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 and was in the middle of her post-match interview when the day took a turn. Coco Gauff will move on to the quarterfinal round and face World No. 7 Mirra Andreeva later in the week.
