Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva were both relieved to get their Madrid Open last-16 matches done and dusted before power outages caused Monday's play to be cancelled.

Gauff beat Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2 in under 90 minutes on Monday, reaching the last eight in the Spanish capital for the very first time.

She has now reached at least the quarter-finals at nine of the 10 WTA 1000 events, with her home tournament in Miami the only exception.

However, the 2023 US Open champion was one of a few lucky players to finish their matches on Monday, before the Caja Magica venue was hit by power outages.

The loss of power saw Gauff's microphone cut out during her on-court interview, and she was quickly ushered back to the players' lounge.

Other matches, including Grigor Dimitrov's meeting with Jacob Fearnley on centre court, were still in progress when the electronic line-calling system and scoreboards stopped working. 

While play was due to restart after a brief stoppage, the players were taken off due to a spider camera getting stuck in position above the centre of the court.

Huge areas of Spain and Portugal were left without power by the outages, which have affected public transport, traffic lights, card payments and mobile networks. Portuguese energy company REN has claimed the issues were caused by an atmospheric phenomenon related to variations in temperatures.

"It was pitch-black, and I got the gist that the power went out," Gauff said. "I thought it was just us and then I realised it was the whole country, that's just insane."

 

 

 

 

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It was subsequently announced that the remainder of Monday's matches would be cancelled "in order to guarantee general safety."

Gauff had previously requested that the schedulers place her last-16 match second on the order of play, but she was relieved that her plea was ignored, saying: "I'm glad that request didn’t go through! Shoutout to the WTA supervisors for making the right decision for me!"

Gauff's quarter-final opponent will be Andreeva, who just about managed to complete her 6-1 6-4 win over Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva before the power went out.

Andreeva, who was serving for the match as the issues began, told reporters: "It was 15-40 on my serve. I was like, 'Oh, Mirra, please do everything in your power to take this game and finish the match. I knew that if it went to 5-5 we probably would have to wait and I would be here still.

"Everyone is using their phones with flashlights, but it's kind of fun because everyone is talking together, the atmosphere is a little bit more friendly."

 

 

 

 

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On facing Gauff in a match currently scheduled for Tuesday, Andreeva added: "Last time I faced her on clay was Roland Garros in 2023.

"The first set was tight, but the rest of the match, she didn't give me a chance. But it was two years ago, so I'm just super excited, not to take revenge, but to see how different I play." 

The 2024 Madrid quarter-finalist then added: "This year, I'm going to try to advance further. I'm going to do everything possible to win this."