"Glad that request didn’t go through": Coco Gauff thanks WTA officials for one reason after cementing spot in Madrid Open quarterfinals

America’s Coco Gauff has revealed that she was trying to get a later match in the Madrid Open on the day when some parts of Europe suffered a major power failure. Four countries, including Spain, Portugal, and France, suffered a major power outage on Monday.

The failure led to traffic jams in the Spanish capital, as per 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 out of the possible 16. The remaining matches were postponed to Tuesday. One of them featured America’s Gauff as well, who cemented a spot in the quarterfinals of the competition after beating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2.

The one-time Grand Slam winner featured in a video released on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — where she stated that she was trying to host a contest later that day and thanked the WTA officials for not allowing it to happen. “At first I was trying to request yesterday to be like second on instead of first, but I’m glad that request didn’t go through, so shout-out to WTA supervisors for making the right decision for me.”

That win sets up Gauff’s clash against Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinal of the event. The 17-year-old cemented her spot in the last eight after beating Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.