Ben Shelton was four points away from winning his tennis match against Rinky Hijikata during the second round at Wimbledon before it was suspended for darkness. The American was outraged.
Both he and his opponent tried to stop the match more than 30 minutes before it was put on pause.
Shelton, 22, is part of a young wave of American tennis stars with a legitimate chance to win a major in the very near future. He reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2023 and at the Australian Open earlier this year. A strong showing at Wimbledon would be another big boost to his career.
It appears as though Ben Shelton will advance to the third round as a No. 10-seed with a win over Hijikata in the second round. However, officials decided to suspend their match at 9:22 p.m. local time on Thursday due to darkness so it will not continue until Friday morning.
Shelton was about to serve for the match when it was suddenly put on pause. He was absolutely livid and made sure to give the chair umpire a piece of his mind before he left the court for the night.
Ben Shelton reacts to his match against Rinky Hijikata being suspended at 9:29 PM local time.
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The match will be resumed tomorrow after play is suspended due to darkness. pic.twitter.com/6X3mFleai0
As the score currently stands, Shelton leads Hijikata 6-2, 7-5, 5-4. There was more than enough light to at least attempt one more game when the match was suspended but the line judges at Wimbledon were replaced by A.I.-powered cameras that require more light than their human predecessors.
To call the match is one thing. It happened on multiple courts at the All England Club on Thursday. The circumstances of this specific stoppage is the root of Ben Shelton’s frustration.
First and foremost, he was about to serve for the match on a day where he had not been broken. More importantly, both he and his opponent already tried to stop the match early. They were ignored.
Ben Shelton and Rinky Hijikata pleaded with officials to suspend the match after the second set. Officials ultimately decided to continue after about 30 minutes of deliberation. They allowed them to play all of the way to 5-4. And then they decided to suspend the match.
Shelton could’ve hypothetically closed out the match in the time spent deliberating. Neither player wanted to continue into the third set. They were forced to do so anyway. It was not their decision.
The match was later suspended at 5-4 in the third set right as Ben Shelton was going to serve it out. Ridiculous!
Fortunately, it looks like Shelton has this one in the bag. Unfortunately, no match is over until it’s over and this could be the catalyst for a Hikikata comeback. At the very least, even if Shelton does win anyway, the frustrating stoppage will throw off his routine. His off day on Friday is no longer an off day. He has to finish his second round match early in the morning when he might normally rest and recover. Not ideal.