Power Outage and Fire Alarm Disrupt Cincinnati Open Tennis Tournament: Sinner Wins Amidst Chaos

A power outage at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, home to the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, caused significant disruption on Monday. At around 6 PM local time, organizers announced a suspension of play due to an on-site power failure.

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg reported smoke emanating from a generator on the premises, suggesting that the outage had rendered the Hawk-Eye electronic line calling system inoperable.

Cincinnati Open officials informed CNN that the power loss affected multiple tournament systems, leading to a delay of approximately an hour before play resumed with backup power. By 7:25 PM, Rothenberg reported that matches had recommenced on Center Court, albeit without video or scoreboards in the grandstand. Ushers were using hand signals to relay scores to spectators.

The power outage also briefly halted Tennis Channel’s broadcast of the tournament.

Over an hour after play resumed, a fire alarm interrupted proceedings once more as men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner faced off against Gabriel Diallo on Center Court. The recently crowned Wimbledon champion, Sinner, was seen laughing at the unusual sequence of events unfolding during this ATP 1000 level tournament.

The chair umpire confirmed that both players were willing to continue despite the noisy conditions, and the Hawk-Eye operators were assured they did not need to evacuate the stadium. The crowd cheered as play resumed, and erupted in spontaneous applause when the fire alarm was eventually silenced.

A Tennis Channel announcer quipped during the chaos, “This is the most dystopian tennis match we have ever been a part of.” Sinner ultimately triumphed, winning his match 6-2 7-6 (6) to advance to the round of 16.