Wimbledon’s night curfew is both a blessing and a curse. Since 2009, Merton Council has strictly enforced an 11 pm cutoff for play, introduced alongside the Centre Court roof. The rule balances the demands of a global tennis event with local residents’ peace, minimizing noise and giving fans enough time to catch the London Underground, which stops running around midnight on weekdays. Yet, not all players are thrilled—Ben Shelton voiced his frustration when his Round 2 match was suspended due to darkness.

On Thursday, the American was left absolutely fuming. The American, just 22 and already a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, saw his match against Rinky Hijikata suspended in the third set. He was up 5-4, so close to the finish line, when officials called it off. That meant he’d have to come back Friday—possibly for just one game—costing him a full day off.

But the tournament director, Jamie Baker, understood his frustration. On Friday, before play began, Baker admitted, “He had match point, didn’t he? I would be pretty unhappy as well. But, yeah, he’s in a good position.” You could almost hear the sympathy in his voice.

The No. 10 seed was serving for a straight-sets win when the match was halted at 9:29 p.m. The reason? Darkness and a strict curfew rule. Fans watching around the world were baffled. There was still visible light outside, but there was Shelton, visibly frustrated, arguing with officials about the decision.

Things got heated on No. 2 Court, which, by the way, has no artificial lights or roof. Ben Shelton later took his frustration online, posting, “They ain’t wanna see anything else from me tonight, but I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” Baker, meanwhile, insisted, “We had already extended play as far as we were comfortable with.”

Baker added, “Off the top of my head, I don’t know the exact time. But we have been playing really late this week because the weather has been great, the skies have been clear, and last night we pushed it as far as we possibly could.” You could tell they were trying to be flexible, but rules are rules.

Shelton’s irritation wasn’t just about the timing. He’d just lost three match points on Hijikata’s serve. To make matters worse, he’d even asked if play could be suspended before the third set started. Now, he’s set to resume his match on Friday, right after Naomi Osaka’s third-round clash with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Court Two. But did he make it through?

Update on the match: Ben Shelton is cruising into Round Three! He dispatched the Australian in just one hour and 10 minutes, firing three aces and delivering one unreturned serve to seal a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory. Now, he stands alongside Taylor Fritz as the last two American ATP players left at Wimbledon! For more, you can check out our Live Blog for minute-to-minute updates on the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.

Shelton had 46 winners and 20 unforced errors, as well as eight aces. The Aussie finished just slightly better in winners than unforced errors. Looking ahead, could Ben possibly go deep this time around? Last year, he reached the fourth round, and that remains his best result at the Championships. No American on the ATP tour has won the title since Pete Sampras in 2000.

Well, it seems like a good ending, right? But was Shelton still upset about the suspended match? It doesn’t seem so. He explained why the suspension was necessary.

Ben Shelton reveals the reason behind his R2 match being cut short

After that lightning-fast 70-second finish, the 22-year-old opened up about why his match was suspended on Thursday when he was just one game from victory. “The reason wasn’t the lack of light, but that the electronic line-calling system would stop working in five minutes, including the game breaks. I told them I only needed one game and it would take a minute, but they didn’t want to risk it malfunctioning midway through the game,” Shelton said during his post-match press conference. But was that really the full story? There’s no way to say for sure.

Interestingly, Shelton’s frustration wasn’t an isolated incident. His fellow American, Taylor Fritz, showed a similar reaction three nights earlier in his opening match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. After a grueling battle on Day One, Fritz couldn’t finish his match because of the strict curfew rule. As Taylor staged a fierce comeback from two sets down and 5-1 down in the fourth-set tiebreak to force a deciding fifth. The roof was closed, the crowd was electric, and momentum was on the American’s side. Then, chaos struck. The match was being suspended.

Fritz was furious with the decision, arguing, “We have more time than our longest set.” But the officials stuck to their guns. The match was suspended and had to resume the next day—unfinished business left simmering. Still, the No. 4 seed fought his way into Round Two and, on Wednesday, narrowly avoided another suspension that would have cost him a day of rest. He wrapped up his match against Gabriel Diallo to advance to Round Three!

Wimbledon’s grass courts might not be the only challenge players face this year. With Ben set to return tomorrow to face Márton Fucsovics, the question is: will he make it to the fourth round for the second time? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!