The fourth round match between Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson was halted tantalisingly at two sets apiece just after 9pm on Monday, when the twilight on No.1 Court became too gloomy to continue.
The players will resume for a one-set shootout on Tuesday at 1pm to decide which of them will go through to the last eight.
Of course, logic based on ranking dictates that the No.1 seed and defending champion will duly close out the match when the time comes – but in fact this one is fascinatingly poised. For a while on Monday evening, Planet Tennis juddered on its axis as the largely-unheralded Anderson threatened to produce not just the shock of the tournament but the entire year.
The 6ft 8in South African’s concentration and focus throughout the first two sets were truly awe-inspiring to witness – but the effort came at a price and for the No.14 seed, the well seemed to run dry the moment the third set got under way.
Yet for almost two hours preceding that moment, it seemed that this would be the first Grand Slam since Roland Garros 2009 – and the first Wimbledon for a year longer than that – in which the last eight would not feature Djokovic.
Meanwhile, Anderson himself was trying to avoid creating an unhappy new benchmark, by becoming the first player since the game turned professional to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam on seven separate occasions without ever making a quarter-final.
For Djokovic, sets three and four of this match were as straightforward as the opening two were fruitless, and when the daylight gave out after three hours of play the match stood at (Djokovic first) 6-7(6), 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4, with the winner to face Marin Cilic for a place in the last four.
