"It was a tough day": Alex de Minaur shares how he spent day without power in Madrid

Australia’s Alex de Minaur shares his thoughts on the power failure that affected a major portion of Europe. The 26-year-old is currently taking part in the Madrid Open, where he cemented his spot in the last-16 after beating Denis Shapovalov with a score of 6-3, 7-6.

De Minaur was originally scheduled to play his third-round contest at the ongoing ATP 1000 event, which is taking place in the Spanish capital on Monday, but it was postponed after a major power outage in four European countries, including Spain, Portugal, and France.

The failure led to traffic jams in the Spanish capital, according to the BBC. In Portugal, it was reported that trains and traffic lights were affected due to the major failure. The whole episode left millions in the dark in different countries. Later in the day, Spani declared a state of emergency to address the developing situation. Power was restored in the vast majority of areas affected by the breakdown. The failure ultimately affected tennis events in various countries as well. In Spain, the ATP and WTA 1000 event — the Madrid Open — featured just three matches on Monday.

De Minaur spoke to Puntodebreak ahead of the last-16 clash and spoke about a number of things. One specific topic that came under discussion was how he spent time during the blackout on Monday, which impacted a big part of the continent. In response to that, the Sydney-born star stated that he had a different time because of a lack of connectivity. De Minaur also stated that it is not common to have so much time to spend with other people because everyone is ‘hooked on technology’.

“There wasn’t much we could do, practically your whole life is surrounded by technology,” he said. “For example, we had no mobile phone coverage, we spent the whole day taking walks with the team, playing cards, we went to the only open Mercadona to grab something to eat, but there was no bread left. If there is something I liked about yesterday, it was that, disconnecting a bit from the internet and going outside for a walk, seeing the people of Madrid with their friends and experiencing the moment more. Lately, we are too hooked on technology, so it was nice to see how yesterday people were going to the park or playing soccer. I’ve even seen videos of people dancing. It was a tough day, but all the Spanish people took it very well.”