Coco Gauff reveals extreme struggles after Madrid Open power cut fiasco: No showers, no hotel return & more

Coco Gauff shared how things got even worse for her and other players at the Madrid Open after a major power cut. She revealed that not only did the power go out, but the water stopped too, forcing her to take unusual measures to stay fresh and clean.

A power cut affected "the whole of the Iberian Peninsula and part of France," according to Portuguese electricity network operator REN, and halted matches shortly after 10:30 a.m. GMT. As a result, Madrid Open organizers eventually called off the rest of the day's action four hours later.

Gauff sat down for a conversation with the media after her win over Belinda Bencic and opened up about the struggles she and other players were facing at the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 tournament. She said:

“I just had to take baby wipes and wipe myself and spray some perfume and call it a day. I don’t think we’re even going to be able to go back to the hotel because the traffic lights are out."

“It’s just crazy how much we depend on electricity. It’s really insane and puts it in perspective. Also makes me think about the humans before electricity and how impressive that is,” she added.

Only three matches were completed on Monday before the outage. Coco Gauff defeated Belinda Bencic, and Mirra Andreeva beat Yuliia Starodubtseva to reach the quarterfinals, while on the men's side, Matteo Arnaldi defeated Damir Dzumhur to advance to the fourth round.

Coco Gauff finally returns to her hotel in Madrid, but not without trouble

Coco Gauff pictured at the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open | Image Source: Getty

After being forced to stay at the Madrid Open venue due to the massive power outage, Coco Gauff finally made it back to her hotel — but not without trouble. She revealed in her Instagram Story that she and her team practically had to walk back, as the traffic lights weren't working properly and their ride got delayed.

Gauff wrote in the caption:

"Traffic lights don't work lol. We got out of the car after 1 hour and 45 minutes slowly moving and just walked to the hotel."

The American is now set to face teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of the tournament on April 30.

Andreeva is in red-hot form, having already won titles at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells this year, while Gauff is aiming to capture her first title of the season in Madrid.

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Edited by Pritha Ghosh