The Cincinnati Open has been serving up a mix of drama and disruption. Matches aren’t the only thing on a rollercoaster; the weather has been just as unpredictable. Only yesterday, Arthur Rinderknech collapsed on court in the sweltering heat before retiring from his third-round clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime. With temperatures topping 30°C, players have been battling more than just their opponents. But now, the challenge has shifted. The heat has given way to heavy rain, and it is the showers that have taken control of the schedule.

On Tuesday, both opening men’s singles matches were locked in deciding sets when the rain arrived in Ohio. Over on Court 3, ninth seed Andrey Rublev was ahead of 21st seed Alexei Popyrin 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 2-1, with the Australian serving at 30/30. The momentum was up for grabs when play stopped.

Not far away, Reilly Opelka held the edge over Francisco Comesana 7-6(4), 4-6, 5-4. Opelka had already held a match point at 30/40 but missed wide on the forehand. The Argentine had just pulled level at 40/40 when the rain forced them off.

The women’s draw didn’t escape the interruption either. On Grandstand, Jasmine Paolini was about to face American rising star Ashlyn Krueger when the first drops fell. The match never began.

The skies cleared in approximately 45 minutes, and matches were quickly underway. Unfortunately, Opelka couldn’t close out the match, and Comesana saved 3 match points to win the last set 7-5 despite falling ill earlier in the match.

As the tournament battles weather changes, the stage it’s being played on has never looked more ready for the spotlight. Over just 11 months, the Lindner Family Tennis Center underwent a staggering $260 million upgrade to handle an expanded 96-player draw. The overhaul doubled the grounds to more than 40 acres and added 14 new courts, bringing the total to 31. It’s a transformation built for more tennis than ever, though this week, even the best facilities have had to pause for the rain and apparently, some more problems.

The Cincinnati Open disrupted by a power outage

The Cincinnati Open had an unexpected twist on Monday evening, and it had nothing to do with the weather or the tennis. A sudden power outage swept through the Lindner Family Tennis Center, bringing the tournament to a halt and sending ripples of confusion across the grounds.

Organizers announced just before 6 p.m. local time that play was suspended due to an “on-site power outage.” Fans and players were left waiting, unsure of what exactly had gone wrong.

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg posted on X that smoke was seen rising from a generator on the property. The outage knocked out several key systems, including the Hawk-Eye electronic line calling technology. Tournament officials later told CNN, “The loss of power impacted several systems used by the tournament and caused a delay of approximately one hour before play was able to resume with generator power.”

With that, matches were able to restart, but the evening still had more drama in store. A little over an hour after play resumed, an apparent fire alarm pierced through the action on Center Court. Men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was locked in a match against Gabriel Diallo when the siren began to sound.

The players and chair umpire discussed the situation on court, and microphones picked up the umpire confirming that both were happy to continue despite the noise. The umpire also clarified that Hawk-Eye operators were not being forced to evacuate, allowing the match to proceed.

Once the interruptions were over, Sinner settled in and closed out the match with a 6-2, 7-6(6) win to book his spot in the round of 16. It was an evening the Cincinnati Open won’t soon forget. And it was a reminder that even in tennis, anything can happen.