Ben Shelton’s soccer star girlfriend Trinity Rodman vociferously backed the American ATP star after his second-round match at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships was controversially suspended. When the decision was made to suspend the match, Shelton was about to serve for the set.
On Thursday, July 3, Shelton took to the All England Club’s Court 2 for his second-round clash at the grass Major against Rinky Hijikata. The ATP No. 10 won the first two sets 6-2 and 7-5, and established a 5-4 lead in the third. Here though, at 9:30 PM local time, officials decided that there wasn’t enough natural light for the players to continue the contest. It is worth noting that Court 2 doesn’t have a retractable roof.
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Clearly irked by the decision, Ben Shelton's frustrations spilled over as he entered into a heated exchange with the chair umpire. A tournament official needed to intervene to calm things down. Later, Shelton took to his Instagram and shared a post featuring three pictures from his clash against Hijikata. Taking a veiled swipe at the Wimbledon Championships in his caption, the 22-year-old wrote:
"They ain’t wanna see anything else from me tonight but I’ll see yall tomorrow 🌘"
Not long after, Trinity Rodman, the American women's soccer sensation who began dating Shelton earlier this year, showed her support for the ATP star in the comments, writing:
"Yuppppppp🔥🔥🔥😤😤😤"
Shelton's compatriot, Taylor Fritz, faced a similar experience in his first-round match at SW19.
Before Ben Shelton's match suspension controversy, Taylor Fritz experienced similar fate at Wimbledon
Three days before Ben Shelton was left infuriated by the chair umpire's decision to suspend his second-round match, Taylor Fritz went through something very similar during his first-round clash against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Fritz and Mpetshi Perricard had completed four sets when the local 11:00 PM curfew rule led to the umpire calling it a night, even though there was more than 30 minutes for the curfew to come into effect.
According to the umpire, Fritz and Mpetshi Perricard wouldn't have been able to play out the fifth set in whatever time was remaining. Fritz wanted to continue, but his French opponent didn't. The next day, the pair completed the contest, with the American coming out on top.
Another suspension threatened to derail Fritz's second-round win over Gabriel Diallo as well, which also turned out to be a five-setter. However, thankfully for the American, the match was completed in one go. Later, Fritz spoke up about how he would have 'lost his mind' had his match against Diallo been suspended as well.
"I would have lost my mind if they tried to get us (off) at, like, 9:50. There was plenty of time. I would have absolutely lost it because then I would have had to play again and then again. I need a day off at some point," Fritz said.
Taylor Fritz is set to lock horns with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a place in the fourth round. Meanwhile, if Ben Shelton comes out on top against Hijikata, he will face either Marton Fucsovics or Gael Monfils in the third round.
