‘Well I’m shocked’ – British tennis star ordered off Wimbledon court leaving commentator stunned

Arthur Fery will hope a Wimbledon court supervisor’s ‘surprising’ decision can rescue him from the jaws of defeat.

The British star trailed 6-4, 6-3 in his second round match against Luciano Dardieri when he received what may prove to be divine intervention.

Fery had his second round encounter pushed to ThursdayCredit: GettyAs the pair walked back to their chairs at the end of the second set, the match supervisor strolled onto Court 2 and made the executive decision to postpone the contest due to bad light, with the match to resume on Thursday afternoon.

The call was made at 8:45pm, although play had continued through to 9:15pm on previous evenings in SW19.

BBC commentary duo Matt Chilton and Dom Inglot were left baffled by the supervisor’s decision to bring an end to Wednesday’s proceedings earlier than usual.

“There is a collective groan around the ground now,” Chilton said.

Read more tennis news”That is a little surprising that at quarter-to-nine, play is suspended.”

Inglot replied: “Well I am shocked. If I was Darderi I would be carrying on as long as I possibly could.

“He is playing some unbelievable tennis right now.

“You never know, he could come back tomorrow and not be feeling it like he is right now.”

Chilton added: “They have been going on till much later than this.

“However, the decision has been made and these two will return to this court tomorrow.”

The world No. 481 had his back against the wall when play was postponedCredit: GettyFery, 22, reached the second round at Wimbledon thanks to a stunning upset over 20th seed Alexei Popyrin.

It marked the first time Fery won a match at a grand slam.

But the world No. 481 will have it all to do against Darderi when their game resumes.

Fery and Darderi are not the only stars to have had their match postponed until the following day at this year’s Wimbledon.

American star Taylor Fritz’s gruelling first round encounter against powerful Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had to be pushed to the next day, but not because of bad light.

Instead, it was due to the 11pm curfew in place.

Fritz was not a fan of his match being postponedCredit: GettyFritz and Mpetshi Perricard had played an energy-sapping four sets – three of which were tiebreaks – under the closed roof on Centre Court when the umpire called an end to proceedings for the night as the 11pm deadline loomed.

It was not a decision Fritz wanted as he was keen to continue playing through to 11pm, but Mpetshi Perricard was not.

“They told us before the match, ‘Hey, are you good to play ’til 11? We’re going to stop at 11,’ ” Fritz said.

“When I’m looking at the clock at the end of the fourth set, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, it’s 10, there’s no way they’re going to stop us. We’re for
sure playing this fifth set.’

“The idea of stopping wasn’t even in my mind. I was fully tunnel- visioned on this match is finishing tonight.

“What happened was, I get it — we both have to agree. If we don’t, then the referee makes a decision. What I didn’t understand, the referee, after he said what his decision was, he kept asking me. I think he just wanted me to, like, agree with him.

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“I said, ‘I don’t know why you keep asking me, because I want to play. Stop asking me, because you already said we’re not playing.’ ”

Read More on talkSPORTFritz and Mpetshi Perricard returned the following day to finish off the contest 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Things didn’t get much easier for the American in the second round as he prevailed in another taxing five-set encounter, this time against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.