Ben Shelton was not pleased when his Wimbledon match against Rinky Hijikata was postponed on Thursday night due to darkness, and he proved the following day that his frustration was warranted.
Shelton was leading 6-2, 7-5, 5-4 in his second-round Wimbledon match against Hijikata on Thursday when tournament officials decided to suspend play at 9:29 p.m. local time. Wimbledon has an 11 p.m. curfew in general, but the Shelton-Hijikata match was taking place on Court 2, which has no artificial lighting.
Shelton made it clear he was angry over the decision. The match continued on Friday, and Shelton needed just over a minute to finish the job.
Three aces and an unreturned second serve 🔥
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 4, 2025
It took Ben Shelton a little over a minute to finish his match that got suspended the day prior due to darkness 😤 pic.twitter.com/MC4aWIpJsz
Shelton told reporters afterward that he spent roughly 30 minutes warming up, which was significantly longer than the 70 seconds it took him to complete his win over Hijikata. He also said the umpire told him on Thursday night that there were only five minutes remaining until Hawkeye technology would no longer be usable. Shelton responded that he only needed 60 seconds to finish the match.
“He said there was a five-minute warning until Hawkeye was going down and that was including the changeover,” Shelton said Friday. “So, there wouldn’t be enough time to complete the game. I told him I only need 60 seconds.”
Ben Shelton on what he told the umpire last night when they suspended the match due to light:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 4, 2025
“He said there was a 5 minute warning til Hawkeye was going down & that was including the changeover. So there wouldn’t be enough time to complete the game. I told him ‘I only need 60… pic.twitter.com/ZYbaxJxlVF
Shelton was not wrong. He had three aces and an unreturned serve to win the final game against Hijikata on Friday.
The 22-year-old Shelton has advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Between the suspended match drama and notoriety he has gained for dating Trinity Rodman, the American has dominated headlines in London thus far.
