Ben Shelton has booked his place in the third round at Wimbledon for the second time in his career after defeating Rinky Hijikata in straight sets.
Shelton and Hijikata’s match was suspended on Thursday night due to darkness, despite the American being just one service game away from victory.
The world number ten came out today to finish the contest and wrapped it up in 70 seconds, firing three aces past the Australian.
Following his triumph, Shelton reacted to the bizarre situation and sent a message to the Wimbledon crowd.
Ben Shelton reacts to wrapping up the match in less than a minute
In his on-court interview, Shelton said: “For me I thought it was a great match, clean match. I thought Rinky played really well.
“My shot making was really hot last night. It helped me a lot. I’m not sure how many of you guys [the crowd] were in the crowd last night, but thanks, everybody, for staying late and then coming back.
“For me, it’s very different playing over two days, coming out for whatever that was, 55 seconds today [laughs].
“I was hoping to hit a few groundstrokes today, but overall, I couldn’t be more happy to be in the third round of Wimbledon.
“I think it’s happened maybe two or three times at Wimbledon [splitting the match over two days]. This seems to be the tournament where I split the most.
“It’s just one of those tournaments where you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly, get used to the stopping, starting, and yeah, it’s part of what makes tennis fun.
“I missed one first serve, something to be upset about [crowd laughs], something to improve on in the next round.
“For me, you come out here serving for the match, the nerves are there a little bit. To hit three aces and take the pressure off of myself, I couldn’t be happier with what I came out here and did.
“Sorry that you guys didn’t get to see much tennis. Hopefully, in my match tomorrow, you guys see a little bit more tennis.”
Ben Shelton’s next opponent at Wimbledon
Following his win against Hijikata, Shelton will play Marton Fucsovics in the third round of the championships.
Fucsovics defeated Gael Monfils to become the first lucky loser in the Open Era to reach the round of 32 at Wimbledon via two five-set wins.
Shelton will hope to beat the Hungarian in pursuit of reaching the fourth round at the All England Club for the second consecutive year.
On the other hand, Fucsovics is aiming to match his best campaign at Wimbledon, which came in 2021, when he made the quarter-finals.
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