ESPN broadcasters could not believe a decision taken by Wimbledon officials Thursday.
Organizers of The Championships in London, England, made a controversial call involving Ben Shelton.
Ben Shelton was furious that his game was suspended because of fading light[/caption]
The American was serving for the match when play was called off[/caption]
The American No. 10 seed was in a race with the fading light to complete his game against Rinky Hijikata.
ESPN was showing the match live on the main channel with former player James Blake on commentary.
Shelton was about to serve for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
But a decision was made to suspend play at 9.29 pm local time because it was too dark.
The US star was left furious with the decision.
And ESPN broadcasters were equally stunned by the call.
“This is unbelievable,” Blake was heard saying as Shelton confronted the umpire.
The frustration apparently stemmed from not halting play sooner when it was first discussed.
Blake said, “This is painting themselves into a corner by not stopping this at 4-2 when it should have been stopped.
“Both players were happy to stop then.
“Now, Ben is furious that they’re stopping at 5-4, when he has to come out cold on Friday to serve 5-4.”
Blake rushed to ESPN’s studio on site after the game.
His co-analyst Coco Vandeweghe said, “If I’m Ben Shelton, I’m really furious right now that I’m not able to serve it out.”
Former World No. 4 Blake was still having makeup applied by the side of the set when host Chris McKendry asked for his opinion.
“A bad decision forced another bad decision,” Blake said.
“They could’ve stopped at the end of the second set or at 4-2.”
Shelton was seen walking back through the grounds of the All-England Club out the back of the ESPN studio.
The No. 10 seed looked annoyed at not being able to finish his game before night fell.
Shelton is the second-highest seeded American male in the draw behind No. 5 Taylor Fritz.
No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe suffered an early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
