Edmund and Chardy locked at 5-5 in the deciding set with play called to a halt just before 9.30pm local time
Tuesday 28 May 2019 09:06, UK
British No 1 Kyle Edmund must return on Tuesday to see if he can reach the French Open second round after his match against France's Jeremy Chardy was suspended by bad light deep in the fifth set.
The match was suspended for the night, to the disappointment of an enthralled partisan Parisian crowd, after three hours and 55 minutes of play, with Edmund serving at 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-4 4-6 5-5.
Edmund and Chardy will resume in the second match scheduled on Court 1 - known as the 'Bullring' - at Roland Garros, with the forecast of poor weather in the French capital on Tuesday.
Edmund, who is trying to end a five-match losing streak, had twice led by a set only for French favourite Chardy to fight back each time to extend the match.
With the pair locked at 5-5 and the time ticking towards 9.30pm, the unpopular decision was made to stop the match as both players agreed to halt the encounter.
Edmund, who has reached the third round for the last two years, began strongly as he broke Chardy's serve to love in the opening game - but the world No 41 soon retrieved the break deficit.
The 24-year-old Brit raised his level to win the tie-break in dominant fashion to take the initiative and moved 4-1 ahead in the second set, but Chardy won an extended Edmund service game, when trailing 4-2, to get back on serve.
Chardy broke quickly once again and served out for the second set and both players maintained their big-hitting styles of play from the baseline into the third set, which Edmund won with a decisive break.
Edmund had the first break-point chance in the fourth set but was unable to convert and Chardy won four games in succession to take control, and despite a mini-recovery from the Brit, the match went the distance.
Chardy saw two break points come and go in the fifth game of the final set as Edmund held firm under pressure to remain on serve and as the match appeared to be heading for a finish, light called an end to the thrilling encounter.
Elsewhere in the later games there were victories for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, playing under his protected ranking to beat Germany's Peter Gojowczyk in four sets and last year's runner-up Dominic Thiem, who also needed four sets, to beat American Tommy Paul.
Former champion Stan Wawrinka is likely to be a danger to the leading contenders having battled back up the rankings after his injury problems. The 2015 champion eased through the first set before seeing his opponent Jozef Kovalik claim the second on a tie-break.
Wawrinka, seeded 24th, recovered enough to see out a 6-1 6-7 6-2 7-3 victory but the news wasn't so good for some of the other seeds as Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe and Nikoloz Basilashvili all fell at the first hurdle.
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