Ben Shelton was left fuming after Wimbledon’s curfew kicked in just as he was about to serve for his second-round match on Thursday.
Shelton could not believe it when tournament officials put a halt to his match against Rinky Hijikata at 9:29 p.m. local time due to darkness, with Shelton ahead 6-2, 7-5, 5-4. The American had not dropped serve during the entire match and was on course to finishing Hijikata off when the decision was made.
Both Shelton and Hijikata had raised concerns about a possible match suspension as much as a half hour before this, but at that point, they were allowed to play on. Shelton, in particular, felt that if the match was going to have to be stopped, it should have been done much sooner than it actually was.
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
Wimbledon has an 11 p.m. curfew in general, but Shelton’s match was taking place on Court 2, which has no artificial lighting. That led to the early suspension, and is part of why both players had advocated for a stoppage much earlier. Shelton, understandably, likely expected to get a chance to try to serve out the match once things got to that point.
Shelton, the No. 10 seed, is hoping to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in his career. He has gained some notoriety for dating Trinity Rodman, but has also been involved in some strange incidents over the last year.
