A power outage impacted virtually all of Chile, hindering the completion of the second day of the Chile Open.
The most significant blackout in the nation since the 8.5-magnitude earthquake in February 2010 affected nearly 19 million individuals. This disruption was triggered by a failure in the transmission line in northern Chile: the metro system in the capital ground to a halt, most traffic lights were out of service, and people found themselves trapped in elevators.
However, the ATP Santiago event hosted at the Club Deportivo Universidad Católica at the base of the Andes outside the city felt like a separate reality. Generators kept the tournament running smoothly, allowing matches to continue nearly without interruption.
It wasn’t the power outage that halted the second day of the competition. The Chilean government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
The curfew benefited Chilean player Tomás Barrios. His match was interrupted while behind 6-1 against Argentina’s Federico Coria on the centre court. Simultaneously, Francisco Comesaña led 7-6 (3), 1-2 against Brazil’s Felipe Meligeni Alves.
Bosnian Damir Džumhur was among the few players who noticed the impact of the electrical crisis on the tournament. After the event transitioned to its own power source, the 32-year-old expressed frustration about issues with the new Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) system.
Six singles matches were finalized on Tuesday. Federico Coria vs Tomás Barrios Vera and Francisco Comesana vs Felipe Meligeni Alves were ongoing and postponed until Wednesday.
Play is expected to resume at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Main Photo Credit: Photo by Markus Tobisch/SEPA.Media /Getty Images
