Question from Sally in Warwickshire
Ben Shelton’s second-round match against Rinky Hijikata on Thursday was suspended because of bad light when he was two sets up and led 5-4 in the third – so was potentially one game from victory.
Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker said the decision to bring Shelton and Hijikata off court was because of “extremely dark” light.
Shelton completed the match on Friday in 84 seconds, but Baker said the move to suspend play the previous evening was “definitely the right decision”.
“Our focus at all times is the integrity of the competition. We try, with every decision we make, to be as fair as we possibly can [and] uphold the rules of the tournament,” said Baker.
“We gave the players as much time as we possibly could to try to finish that match. We played till very, very late. It was extremely dark.
“We have a team of officials who are on the court, and they’re making a judgment call on several different factors, and one of them is how the players feel.
“Ben actually had match point in the last game [on Thursday] that he didn’t quite get and then at 5-4, the officials saw how dark it was.
“This is the pinnacle tennis tournament in the world. They just did not feel comfortable with the match continuing in almost complete darkness. So we do stand by the decision.
“Sometimes these things happen. Lots of matches to get on court, but yes, it was definitely the right decision from the officials.”
