Coco Gauff was left startled during an on-court interview as a power outage hit the Madrid Open.
The American star secured a 6-4, 6-2 win over Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16 on Monday, April 28, moments before a power cut forced other players off the court.
Play was suspended for Britain’s Jacob Fearnley at a critical stage in his third-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, when loss of power in the local area affected scoreboards and the camera above the court.
The positioning of the camera when it lost power meant the match could not continue even with line judges, as it was stuck in the eye-line of the players.
After remaining on court for some time, the pair were eventually taken inside to wait for the issue to be rectified.
Tournament organisers later released a statement confirming that due to the ongoing issues, play of both the day and night sessions would be abandoned.
"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," a statement posted on their official X account read.
Gauff, meanwhile, was able to finish her match before the outage -- but technical issues hit her on-court interview soon after.
As she was running through her preparation for an early morning game, her microphone cut out.
The 21-year-old was caught off-guard by the incident, stepping back and covering her mouth as the TV feed lost audio.
She was then seen smiling as she continued to speak to the reporter behind the camera for a few more seconds.
Gauff's win against Bencic saw her advance to the quarter-final stage at Madrid for the first time in her career.
She has now reached the last eight of every WTA 1000 tournament on the current calendar, except Miami.
The No. 4 seed was set to face Indian Wells and Dubai champion Mirra Andreeva on Tuesday morning, but that match may be rescheduled due to the decision to abandon today's play.
Andreeva, who will face Gauff next, was serving for the win in her Round of 16 match against qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva when the outage hit.
She managed to save four break points to get over the line before play was paused on all courts.
Gauff and Andreeva have not met since 2023, which was the latter's breakthrough season on the WTA Tour.
Both of their previous encounters came on the Grand Slam stage.
Andreeva qualified for the French Open in 2023 to make her main-draw debut, and her run was only halted by Gauff 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1 in the third round.
Gauff then picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win in the second round of the US Open three months later.
Two years on, they are set to meet as top 10 players for the first time, with play initially scheduled for 9am on Tuesday morning.
According to Spanish news outlet SUR, Monday's national blackout caused by the country's electricity network - Red Electrica Espanola - is also affecting other cities including Seville, Malaga and Badajoz.
Metro systems have suffered issues, traffic lights and phone lines are also impacted according to multiple reports.
In Portugal, meanwhile, the power outage hit the capital Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.
