Madrid Open matches suspended as players taken off court

The Madrid Open has been suspended and players have been taken off the court after total power loss in the Spanish capital venue. A and British star Jacob Fearnley was among those put in a difficult position. He faced Grigor Dimitrov, as he was serving to remain in the match when play was halted.

Electronic line calling and scoreboards went down and with no electricity at Manolo Santana Stadium, the match between Damir Dzuhmur and Matteo Arnaldi also had to be stopped.

Spanish outlet claim that a national blackout caused by Red Electrica Espanola, Spain's electricity network, is affecting cities such as Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Barcelona among others.

There are reports from Portugal and France that homes and businesses have been left without electricity. Telephone lines went down across the country and parts of Madrid underground were evacuated.

Tournament officials initially confirmed that play would not resume before 1pm, but after that time passed, a statement was issued that read: "The #MMOPEN has been affected by the general power outage, we are working to restore normality as soon as possible. We will keep you informed through our social media channels."

Though many critics of electronic line calling will claim that power faults are one reason why linespeople should remain in place at tournaments, the matches would not have been able to resume even if they were in use.

Above the court is a large spider camera that is operated remotely and moves while the ball is in play, but was left dangling precariously above the clay and was enough of a concern that players had to be moved away from the area.

A message to those watching at home around the world read: "Apologies for loss of pictures."

Play was able to resume on the court that Arnaldi and Dzuhmur were competing on. The Italian ended up winning 6-3 6-4 but the umpire had to yell out scores as they finished the match, in the absence of technology and a working scoreboard.

Sky Sports Tennis instead showed replays of 's win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from the previous day as a result of the lack of action in Madrid.

With a lack of light, spectators in some areas of the venue were using the lights from their mobile phones in order to try and understand the scenes unfolding before them.

A few moments earlier, Coco Gauff had been conducting an on-court interview following her victory over Belinda Bencic, only for the microphone to cut out while she was speaking, likely due to the electricity outage.

It remains to be seen what impact the blackout has on the order of play for the day, with Brits Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie scheduled to compete after Fearnley.