This is how the power outage was experienced from inside the Magic Box

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Gradually, normality is being restored, along with the feeling of having lived something historic and the relief that it has come to an end. Diego Jiménez and Fernando Murciego, members of Puntodebreak accredited as press at the Mutua Madrid Open 2025, recount their experience at the Caja Mágica and what happened while all the spotlights were off after the power outage.

I wake up early to go to the Caja Mágica. A spectacular day of tennis, full of incentives. In the early hours of the competition, I take the opportunity to write something for the website and visit the Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario Stadium to see Cori Gauff opening a clear gap in the score against Belinda Bencic, then moving to Stadium 3, where Mirra Andreeva is facing some difficulties in the second set against Starodubtseva. She quickly regains her best form and suddenly, the lights go out.

I decide to quickly go to the press area, and what I find is a complete blackout throughout the facility. I take a detour to avoid elevators, and upon reaching the press zone, I encounter a scene of general bewilderment. Soon, my phone starts ringing, and Twitter is buzzing. All of Spain without power. Contact with family members is difficult due to the ups and downs of the data connection, the internet completely down, questions unanswered, but above all, great camaraderie.

This is the current situation at the Caja Mágica during the @MutuaMadridOpen

Video by @libertaddigital pic.twitter.com/Pp3Rj4Qsnj

— David Vinuesa Malbac (@Dvinuesa) April 28, 2025

Journalists quickly gather, chatting and exchanging the information each one has, radios start broadcasting live, and all kinds of conversations arise. Within minutes, a notice arrives in the accredited press WhatsApp group. Mirra Andreeva and Cori Gauff will meet the media in the mixed zone. We head there, right after going to eat thanks to the great work of the buffet staff providing food throughout the tournament for the press.

After the interventions of the somewhat dismayed Andreeva and Gauff, most of the journalists move to the working room, where everyone tries to manage with mobile data. Nothing works, it's not advisable to leave, and we have to kill time. What do Fernando and I come up with? A test of tennis knowledge that challenges us, entertains us, and makes us remember old times. Guess the champions and finalists of all the Grand Slam tournaments of the 21st century.

- Journalists are evacuated around 5:00 p.m., half an hour after the cancellation of the day was announced

We spend over an hour with no help other than our memory and our particular lifeline, our friend Pellegrino, an Italian accredited by Ubitennis. While doing so, we hear a tremendous commotion in the Manolo Santana Stadium. People are in the stands having fun, a spectator starts singing, spontaneous chants arise, and a festive atmosphere takes over a competition-free court. We return to our lair to finish our particular challenge, and shortly after doing so, Fernando confirms he has mobile data again. We take advantage of the moment to check how many we got right, and to our delight, we missed only two finalists. Incredible. True tennis enthusiasts.

At 4:30 p.m., the cancellation of the day is announced, and we start to realize we must leave the Caja Mágica once the bulk of the attending public is evacuated. Everyone wants to go home and find out if their families are okay. The staff attending to the journalists in the Press Room do an excellent job, making everything more enjoyable and providing the available information.

Around 5:00 p.m., Andrea, in charge of all the press facilities, informs us that we must evacuate the premises and leave. Many get anxious at the thought of having difficulty getting home. The Metro and Cercanías are not running, and we believe the traffic will be a nightmare. However, in the end, everything goes better than expected, and we leave with the feeling of having bonded with our colleagues and having experienced something historic, but always with tennis as the main character. The light returns to Spain, and with it, the excitement of continuing to enjoy this Mutua Madrid Open 2025.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Así se vivió el apagón eléctrico desde dentro de la Caja Mágica