Andy Murray’s second-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas will resume on Friday night (AEST) delicately poised with the local hero leading two sets to one after it was suspended due to a unique Wimbledon rule.
With Murray leading 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-4, the match was suspended at 10.40pm local time due to the 11pm curfew at the All England Club.
Both players came out hard, but it was the Greek who prevailed in the first set in a tiebreak 7-3. The second set was more of the same, except this time it was Murray who won the tiebreak 7-2.
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The contest was more than two hours old when Murray finally clinched the first break of the match – and he did it to love with the first game of the third set. He would hold the advantage and take the third set 6-4 when the match was suspended.
The chair umpire’s announcement was met with a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Earlier, concern swept through the parochial crowd when Murray slipped and let out a shriek as he appeared to injure his groin area. But after struggling to his feet, he was able to serve out the set.
The match will be resumed not before midnight (AEST), following Carlos Alcaraz’s second round match against Alexandre Muller.
Poor weather across the first three days at Wimbledon has thrown the naturally tight scheduling of a grand slam into chaos. Tsitsipas and Murray did not get onto Centre Court until 7.38pm. By the time the match got underway, they had barely three hours until the curfew was imposed.
The second day of competition was virtually a complete wash-out, with only the matches on Centre Court and Court One – the only courts with roofs – able to be completed. In total, 48 matches were postponed.
Watch Wimbledon 2023 live and free on 9now. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on Stan Sport, with centre court in 4K UHD.
Why does Wimbledon have a curfew, and what time is the curfew?
As the All-England Club is slap-bang in the middle of suburban London, the 11pm curfew is in place as a consideration to local residents.
The curfew was introduced in 2009 by the local council as a condition of approval for the construction of the roof and lights on Centre Court, which for the first time allowed matches to continue into the night.
Court One has also since had a roof built and lights installed. As they are the only two floodlit courts, they are the only two affected by the curfew.
Play on the outside courts is suspended when they run out of light.
The curfew has been broken only once – in 2018 when officials let Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal finish a tiebreak before suspending play officially at 11.02pm.
Suspensions occur either at the end of a set if possible, or after an even number of games within the set.
Suspended matches must continue on the same court if possible, and resume exactly where they left off.
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