A furious Ben Shelton was prevented from approaching the chair umpire after his Wimbledon match against Rinky Hijikata was suspended due to bad light as he was about to serve for the match.
Shelton, 22, was on the verge of a straight-sets victory over Hijikata when the umpire made the decision to suspend the match.
The 10th seed won the first two sets 6-2 7-5 and was about to serve for a place in the third round.
Shelton had discussed the possibility of a suspension at the start of the third set but it looked as if the players would be able to get through the match as he led 5-4 on serve.
Australia’s Hijikata saved three match points in the previous game and will live to fight another day after the umpire called time at the following changeover.
‘Ladies and gentleman, play is suspended due to darkness,’ the umpire announced at just before 9.30pm, sparking raucous boos from the crowd on Court Two.
Shelton was furious with the decision and walked in the direction of the chair umpire only to be ushered away by another match official.
After composing himself, Shelton gestured to the spectators who were deprived of the chance to see him finish the match and book his place in the third round of Wimbledon.
A commentator on American TV said: ‘Oh my goodness. This is unbelievable. The officials have painted themselves into a corner.
‘It’s a tough situation but they [the officials] did this to themselves by not stopping in at 4-2 when they were willing to go off.
‘Now Ben’s furious that they’re stopping. He’s got to come out tomorrow cold and serve for the match.’
The decision was branded ’embarrassing’ and ‘ridiculous’ by many fans on social media.
The match will resume on Friday, depriving Shelton of a full day-off ahead of his likely third-round clash with the winner of Gael Monfils vs Marton Fucsovics.
That second-round match was also suspended on Thursday evening after Fucsovics won a tie-break to level at two sets apiece.
Earlier in the week, Taylor Fritz’s clash with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had to be completed the following day after officials suspended the match despite there being around 45 minutes of playing time left.
Both players were asked if they wanted to continue and as they did not agree – Perricard was keen to come back the following day – the officials opted to pause the match.
World number one Jannik Sinner had no such problems as he eased his way into the third round with an emphatic win over Aleksandar Vukic.
Sinner, seeking his maiden Wimbledon title, has dropped just 12 games across his first two matches at the All England Club.
The three-time Grand Slam champion remains the second-favourite to win the men’s title, however, behind two-time defending champions Carlos Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic, bidding to win a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title, is also through to the third round, but British number one Jack Draper was knocked out by former US Open winner Marin Cilic.
World number ten Shelton is yet to reach the second week of Wimbledon but made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he lost to eventual winner Sinner.
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