After a well-fought two sets against Australian Rinky Hijikata, Ben Shelton was one game away from advancing to the third round of Wimbledon. But he needed to wait until Friday to finish the job.
Shelton and Hijikata’s second round match was suspended at 9:29 p.m. local time in London due to darkness, as the sun had set about 10 minutes earlier. At the time that officials called the match, Shelton was leading Hijikata 6-2, 7-5, 5-4 — and on serve while one game from a straight set victory.
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He finished off that victory Friday, winning the game and taking the third set 6-4 to win the match. It took Shelton one minute to close out the match Friday.
Shelton was understandably unhappy after the call, speaking heatedly with the officials as Hijikata exited the court. The crowd had a strong reaction as well, booing the ruling and seeming to chant “one more game.”
Part of Shelton’s frustration was that, as the sun went down, both players had broached the idea of suspending the match earlier, but the officials had told them to play on. The match took place at No. 2 Court, which has no roof or stadium lighting.
Due to scheduling, Shelton and Hijikata did not start playing until after 7 p.m. local time. The court had four other matches take place prior to theirs, with one of the men’s matches taking nearly three hours and the second lasting two and a half.
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Shelton did have the chance to lock up victory prior to the officials’ call: The 22-year-old American went up 40-0 in what could have been the match-winning game, before dropping five straight points to Hijikata. As a result, Hijikata won the game to bring the set to 5-4 — and force it into a second day.
Shelton, ranked No. 10, is one of the top two American men remaining in the tournament.
The win pushes Shelton into the third round for the second straight year.
