US tennis star Taylor Fritz got frustrated that his Wimbledon opening match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was halted 40 minutes before the curfew.
According to Sportskeeda, during the highly anticipated clash, Perricard, who made the record for the fastest serve at Wimbledon, 153 mph (246 km/h), won the first two sets 7-6 (6), 7-6 (8).
The 27-year-old made a much-needed comeback to lead the third set 6-4. He continued to play with the same pace and was close to beating the Frenchman, but the official arrived on the court at 10:18 pm to stop the game.
Fritz, who came back from 1-5 down in the fourth-set tiebreaker and won it 8-6, wanted to continue the game, but after discussion, officials decided to suspend the match before the fifth set and almost 40 minutes before the local curfew time, 11pm.
As per the agreement with the local Merton Council, play at the All England Club should stop at 11pm.
The decision left Fritz and the fans furious and sparked boos from the crowd who were there to witness the second biggest showdown of the day.
Later the world No. 5 in a comment on an Instagram reel revealed, “They would have let us play if my opponent agreed to... I said I wanted to he didn’t.”
Now Fritz and Perricard will return to the court for the rest of the match on Tuesday, July 1st.
