The Cincinnati Open has spent an inordinate amount of money in the past year to update the grounds, practice courts, and create a player clubhouse area to make the now 12-day tournament a must-play for the WTA and ATP top players.
These tournaments are competing for the best players in the world, and the Cincinnati Open is always a player-favorite, but with these changes, it is in the Grand Slam echelon.
That’s why it is extremely unfortunate that a power outage is shuttering the tournament right now. Cincinnati is extremely hot right now, with temperatures in the 90s which could be the cause of an apparent generator fire.
Seems to be smoke from a generator as power remains out around the Cincinnati Open grounds, halting play because of removal of human line judges and sole reliance on electronic line calling. pic.twitter.com/I1lX7IHQUN
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 11, 2025
This is not the first power outage affecting tennis this year.
If I had a nickel for every time there was a power outage at a tennis tournament this year, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t much but weird that it’s happened twice.
— Caitlin (@courtsidewithcp) August 11, 2025
First, the Madrid Open and Now, the Cincinnati Open
The Madrid Open also had a major power outage that ended play early as a major power outage affected Spain and Portugal in April.
Widespread power outages in large parts of Spain, Portugal and France have left play at the Mutua Madrid Open suspended and fans in the dark 👀
As of now, it’s unclear what caused the blackout.pic.twitter.com/HDtGIzmZYE
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) April 28, 2025
Thankfully, the Cincinnati Open is planning to resume shortly so it is not as significant as this one which stranded people in public transportation and left players like Coco Gauff in the lurch. Gauff had just finished her match and was planning to take a shower when the power went out.
Tennis tournaments can only control the controllables, but two power outages 1000 level tournaments in the same year is an unusual occurrence. Let’s hope what happens two times does not happen a third time this season.
