The Chile Open was interrupted after the Chilean government declared a national emergency on Tuesday night.

The country was impacted by its worst blackout since 2010, with Chilean officials declaring that eight million homes and 14 of 16 regions in Chile were affected by the power outage.

Play continued at the ATP 250 event in Santiago, with the tournament using its own generators. However, fans were evicted from the stands and play was suspended when the government implemented a curfew at 10pm.

According to Juan Ignacio, police arrived to evict fans from the site. Play was suspended after the first set of Federico Coria’s match against Tomas Barrios Vera on the main arena.

Both players were informed that tournament action had to cease for the night, and the umpire announced play was suspended. Coria quickly disappeared down the tunnel as fans left the stands.

Over on Court 2, Francisco Comesana’s contest with Felipe Meligeni Alves was halted in the second set.

In a statement, the tournament later said: “As a tournament, we are aware of the ongoing emergency in the country and the state of constitutional exception declared by the government, which will take effect at 10pm today.

“Following instructions from the authorities, we suspended the match and evacuated the venue under strict security measures. We will soon provide updates on tomorrow’s schedule.”

On their website, the ATP said: “Action at the Movistar Chile Open was suspended before the end of play Tuesday due to a curfew because of widespread power outages across the country.”

The national curfew will last until 6am local time, with play at the Chile Open set to begin at 2pm local time on Wednesday. Six matches were completed before play was suspended on Tuesday.

Coria and Barrios Vera will return for the second match on Court Jaime Fillol – the tournament’s centre court – on Wednesday. They follow a clash between fourth seed Pedro Martinez and Laslo Djere.

The resumption of Comesana vs Meligeni Alves will also be the second match on Court 2, following a doubles clash.

Following the national blackout, Chile’s transport minister, Juan Carlos Munoz, said around 27 per cent of traffic lights in Santiago were working and urged people to stay home.

He said it was “not a good time to go out since we have a transport system that is not operating normally.”

The metro system was shut down in the capital.