Ben Shelton apologises to Wimbledon crowd as interviewer blames him for on-court issue

Ben Shelton needed only 70 seconds to finish his match with Rinky Hijikata

Ben Shelton said sorry to Wimbledon spectators after taking just 70 seconds to finish his match with Rinky Hijikata on Friday. Their second-round clash was suspended in controversial circumstances on Thursday night and Shelton, with a wicked service game, did not give fans much tennis to sink their teeth into once it resumed. With three aces and another swift point, Shelton's work was done in just over a minute. He and Hijikata even flashed a smile at each other as they approached the net to shake hands. But the mood was much different when the chair umpire announced at 9.29pm (BST) on Thursday that the match was being postponed at 6-2 7-5 5-4 to Shelton due to fading light. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT

Shelton practically had to be held back as he approached the umpire's chair, and he angrily packed up his bag before storming off the court. He finished the job so quickly after coming back the next day that Wimbledon's technical team seemingly struggled to get the microphones up and running in time for his on-court interview. As Shelton and his interviewer looked around for assistance, the American was light-heartedly blamed with: "You won too quickly!" When the issue was fixed and Shelton had the chance to speak, he extended an unusual apology to those in attendance. To be the first to receive the latest Wimbledon news, join our WhatsApp community or Wimbledon newsletter

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Ben Shelton was on fire when he re-emerged on Friday afternoon

"I’m sorry that you guys didn't really get to see much tennis," he said. "No rallies but hopefully the rest of the matches today and hopefully in my match tomorrow you guys see a little bit more." Shelton added that he may need to go down to the practice courts to loosen up given that he did so little work in the second phase of his win over Hijikata. He continued: "I was hoping to maybe hit a few groundstrokes today! I might have to go to the practice courts. Overall, I couldn't be more happy being in the third round of Wimbledon.

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