At Wimbledon, a remarkable situation occurred during the match between Ben Shelton and Rinky Hijikata. On Thursday evening, the match was stopped at the last moment, to Shelton’s displeasure, forcing both men to return for just one minute on Friday.
Shelton was furious on Thursday evening when the umpire decided to halt the match at 9:30 PM (local time) due to the onset of darkness. The American was about to serve for the match at that moment.
Moreover, Shelton himself had suggested stopping half an hour earlier due to the conditions. He stormed off the court after the umpire’s decision, as there was no artificial light available.
A day later, Shelton reappeared on court 2 and had converted his anger into energy. Shelton struck with a love game and secured his place in the third round with three aces. He only needed about seventy seconds for that.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to see much tennis today,” Shelton said to the crowd with a laugh after the match. “How long was it? Something like 55 seconds? I was hoping to hit some groundstrokes today. Maybe I’ll have to go to the practice court for that.”
Shelton will face Márton Fucsovics of Hungary in the next round, who was able to finish his match against Frenchman Gaël Monfils on Thursday. He won in a five-setter.