WIMBLEDON organizers came under fire for a controversial decision involving Taylor Fritz.
The No. 5 seed American was involved in a first-round battle with Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
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Fritz won a dramatic fourth set tie-break to level the match at two sets apiece.
He and his opponent were then approached by a tournament referee shortly after 10.15 pm local time.
And a decision was made to stop the match despite there being more than 40 minutes of time available.
It was deemed that the match might not finish before the curfew.
And stopping before the fifth set began rather than potentially interrupting it at 11 pm was the preferred option.
Fritz showed his unhappiness on court having just fought back from two sets down to wrestle momentum.
The US star will have to return to No. 1 Court Tuesday to play to a finish.
ESPN’s coverage from The All England Club began at 6 am ET on Tuesday.
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey, 37, joined Patrick McEnroe and Rennae Stubbs in the studio.
“I think it was about 10.17 pm,” Querrey noted on the timing of the postponement.
“You can play until 11 pm here with the curfew.
“Terrible decision,” the former world No. 11 said.
“To go out and say ‘we might not finish the fifth set’.
“You can’t make the decision based on a hypothetical
“One of them could have won the fifth set 6-2 in 30 minutes.”
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The US star was two sets down in a game that was moved onto No. 1 Court.
Officials took a decision to start the game under the roof at shortly after 7 pm local time.
The move was made to avoid a delay in closing the roof if the game went beyond 9 pm and daylight faded.
Play can continue on Centre Court and No. 1 Court until an 11 pm curfew.
Fritz and Mpetshi Perricard follow No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner onto court on Tuesday to complete their game.
