Ben Shelton and Andrey Rublev were facing off in the Basel Open quarter-finals earlier today but found their match halted before things could even get going.
Shelton beat Wawrinka at the Basel Open to take his place in the quarter-finals against Rublev.
The American is looking to bring home his second ATP trophy of 2024 in Switzerland this week after Shelton won the title in Texas earlier this year.
Shelton has been competitive in recent weeks falling most recently to world number one Jannik Sinner at the Shanghai Masters.
Shelton’s opponent Rublev is looking to get back on track after a number of early defeats during the Asian swing of the ATP Tour.
Both players were looking for a big win in Basel, but things didn’t get off to the best of starts.
Ben Shelton’s match against Andrey Rublev suspended due to fog
Before things could get underway in Switzerland, the match was suspended due to a thick fog covering the court.
Ever the entertainer, Shelton can be seen trying to get rid of the fog by waving his towel in the air as Rublev laughs from his chair.
Commentator Robbie Koenig jokingly compared his efforts to his skills on the tennis court.
“Good technique, the consistency of the swing was nice, keeping his head up as he moves the towel back and forwards,” he said.
The match eventually got underway after a short delay.
Top three weirdest tennis match suspensions
Fog may well be one of the strangest reasons a match has been suspended, but over the years there have been plenty of other weird and wonderful reasons that a delay has been necessary.
Bees invade at Indian Wells
A swarm of bees invaded Carlos Alcaraz’s match against Alexander Zverev earlier this year at Indian Wells.
Unlike in Basel, the delay was a lengthy one, with players having to wait over an hour and a half before play could continue.
The tournament’s beekeeper eventually arrived and vacuumed up the bees which had formed around one of the tournament’s cameras.
PE students hold protest in Nice
Back in 1980, a group of local physical education students staged a sit-in protest during Bjorn Borg’s win over Manuel Orantes in the final of the Nice Open.
The students, protesting against the French education ministry closing their department, caused a delay of 25 minutes.
Intruder handcuffs herself to net post in Barcelona
Rafael Nadal’s 2006 Barcelona Open campaign was interrupted by a female intruder who burst onto the court and handcuffed herself to the net post.
A brief delay ensued as security guards attempted to cut her loose, eventually taking her away.
The Spaniard wasn’t too bothered by the incident, going on to win the match in straight sets.
Who knows what the next strange delay will be on the ATP Tour, but today just goes to show that you really can’t predict what’s going to come next.
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