Taylor Fritz’s match against Joao Fonseca had to be suspended for the night at Eastbourne on Wednesday evening. With both players having won a set each, the decision was taken for the decisive third set to be delayed until Thursday afternoon due to bad lighting. The two players spoke with ATP supervisor Jerry Armstrong and mutually agreed the best decision was for the match to be suspended.
“It’s difficult to see already, and then in like two games…” Fonseca started before Fritz chimed in: “It’s already getting pretty hard, what’s the point of playing two games? There’s no chance, it’s going to be dark…” The umpire then announced to groans from the crowd: “Due to darkness, play is suspended.”
Top seed Fritz won the opening set 6-3 in only 26 minutes but Brazilian Fonseca won the second in a tiebreak to draw level. The match will resume on Thursday, not before 12pm. The winner will face American Marcos Giron in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
World No.5 Fritz was only two points from victory in the second set before Fonseca forced a tiebreak against the American. The South American, ranked a career-high 57th on the ATP Tour, is one of the most exciting young players in tennis right now.
He defeated Belgian Zizou Bergs in his first match, including a bagel second set, to reach this stage. By contrast Fritz – who won an ATP 250 event in Stuttgart earlier this month – as the first seed automatically progressed into the round of 16.
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