Canadian fans left with a cliffhanger

There was much hemming and hawing, the chair umpire climbing down from his perch to press a foot into the grass, as if he might feel a hint of dampness through the sole of his shoe.

- ROSIE DIMANNO

Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime served up wins in the first two sets of Tuesday’s match, which will resume in the fourth set on Wednesday.

Hands clutched behind his back in contemplation while the players hung around, blank-faced. By the time a supervisor arrived at No. 2 Court, it was almost 9 p.m., sun sinking fast.

Thus the opening-round match between Canada’s Félix AugerAliassime and Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis was suspended for darkness Tuesday evening at Wimbledon, tied at one game apiece in the fourth set.

But he really should have been done and dusted by then, AugerAliassime safely into the second round. He had match point on his racket four times (twice on his serve) in a wild third-set tiebreak that careened this way and that, the Montrealer down 0-5 and all but cooked before storming back to nudge ahead 7-6, then knotted 9-9 — Auger-Aliassime’s jaw dropping in disbelief after pulling the trigger on a misfired forehand, wide and long, on the next point — and finally succumbing 11-9.