"I don’t want to spend the night here and sleep in the gym": Mirra Andreeva shares experience of facing blackout at Madrid Open

Russia’s Mirra Andreeva has stated that she was happy to have a first go in the fourth-round clash at the Madrid Open. The 17-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the future, cemented her place in the quarterfinals of the tournament after beating Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-4.

Interestingly, those were the only two matches that were completed on the day in the tournament. On Monday, as many as four countries on the continent, including Spain, Portugal and France, suffered a massive power failure which has not been rectified even hours later.

Andreeva was quoted in a report by WTA’s official website, where she spoke about how she felt during the breakout. The Krasnoyarsk-born star stated that she felt lucky to have a first go on the day when only two matches were possible.

“This is my first blackout,” said Andreeva. “It’s actually kind of exciting because I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’m super happy that they put me first so I got to finish everything on time. But I don’t want to spend the night here and sleep in the gym, but we’re going to see what they tell us and just go from there.”

Andreeva, who recently produced some impressive performances, including winning the WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells, where she defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final, will now face America’s Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the event. The one-time Grand Slam winner defeated Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. It will be the third meeting between the two players. In the previous two meetings, Gauff has had a clear edge, winning on both occasions. Their most recent meeting came in the second round of the US Open in 2023, where Gauff won in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.