Having chilled during the blackout Iga Swiatek has switched back on to advance to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open.
Swiatek defeated Diana Shnaider 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 to stay on track to defend her title in the Spanish capital.
„I liked yesterday. I think the whole world was just more relaxed,“ she said. „I enjoyed the time off, and I tried to just recover, because we need to savour these free days.“
Swiatek said she took away food from the tournament site and relaxed at the hotel until the power came back on.
„I just chilled and used that time to not think about what I should do,“ she said. „There was no signal, so basically no one used their phones. It was nice, I liked it.“
Most parts of Madrid regained power overnight, but the Caja Magica was still without electricity early Tuesday, causing a delay in the opening of the gates for fans.
The power came back quickly, and organisers did not have to alter the day’s schedule of matches, although there was the possibility of the night session being delayed with 22 matches being held over from Monday.
Swiatek cruised in the first set but had to save 11 of 13 break points to seal a hard-fought victory against the 13th-seeded Shnaider.
Swiatek hasn’t gone past the semi-finals since Roland Garros last year. She will next face Madison Keys, who defeated Donna Vekic 6-2 6-3.
It will be Swiatek’s first meeting with Keys since she lost, despite having match point, in the semi-finals of the Australian Open that was won by Keys.
Elina Svitolina beat Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-4 and will meet Moyuka Uchijima, who defeated Ekatarina Alexandrova 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
The remaining last-16 ties are to be played in the evening session with top seed Aryna Sabalenka facing Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk playing Anastasia Potapova. The winners will meet in the last eight.
The other quarter-final will be between Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva who competed their last-16 ties before the blackout began on Monday.
