One game away: Darkness dramatically delays Ben Shelton’s Wimbledon triumph

Ben Shelton's match was interrupted just one service game short of victory against Australia's Rinky Hijikata in the Wimbledon second round. The American began his night session slot and was on the verge of a convincing win, which has now been suspended until tomorrow.

Just over two hours and 10 minutes of play had elapsed when light conditions on the court led the chair umpire to decide to suspend the match. Shelton was serving in the third set with the chance to clinch the victory.

The first set took the American just 30 minutes. After an even start, he secured two consecutive breaks to comfortably take the set 6-2. The world No. 10 had not conceded a single service point in his four service games and virtually gave his opponent no room to play.

In the second set, Hijikata began to put Shelton's serve into play and give his opponent some work. However, both won their service games without major complications. The break came in the 11th game, where Shelton capitalized on the pressure on his opponent and avoided a tie-break, taking the set 7-5.

In the third set, everything seemed set for Shelton's triumph. He secured an early break, then saved a couple of break points against him, taking a 2-0 lead. The 23-year-old managed to maintain his advantage and even squandered several opportunities to achieve a double break.

With the score at 5-3 in Shelton's favor, Hijikata served to stay in the match and had to save three match points to remain in the contest. Immediately afterward, Shelton's service game was due, but at that moment, the chair umpire decided to suspend the match.

With this, Shelton will have to wait until this Friday to return to the court and try to quickly close out the victory to avoid complications. If he starts well, the American could spend barely a minute on court to secure his passage to the third round at the All England Club.