ATP Tour

Shelton unable to convert 3 MPs before play suspended at Wimbledon

Ben Shelton was on the verge of ousting Rinky Hijikata on Thursday at Wimbledon before play was suspended due to darkness.

The action came to a halt on No. 2 Court at 9:29 p.m. local time with the 10th seed leading the Australian 6-2, 7-5, 5-4 and preparing to serve for the match. Shelton earned three match points on Hijikata's serve in the last game before the suspension, but was unable to convert and book his spot in the third round.

The No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is one game from taking a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Hijikata and advancing to the third round at SW19 for the second consecutive year. The winner will take on Marton Fucsovics and Gael Monfils, whose match was suspended at two sets apiece.

Shelton is the highest-seeded player remaining in his section of the draw, since seventh seed Lorenzo Musetti fell in the first round. The American lefty will return to No. 2 Court to try to finish the job not before 12:30 p.m. on Friday, with Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to begin the day's action on the court at 11 a.m.

Shelton has not lost serve in the match and has excelled behind his second serve, winning 70 per cent of those points. He has saved all three break points he has faced, while breaking serve four times from 12 opportunities.