WIMBLEDON — As the light faded on No 2 Court, the bells from nearby St Mary’s Church started ringing. Neither player out there competing needed a further reminder about time running out though, as both are firmly in the twilight of their careers. 

Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils saw their match suspended for poor light on Wednesday at just gone 9.20pm, but had already made the history books regardless of the result. 

At 39 and 37 years old, Wawrinka and Monfils were playing out the oldest Wimbledon men’s singles match in 53 years.

As individuals, they are the two oldest men in the singles draw this year, and their combined age of 77 years and 60 days is only bettered in the Open era in two previous encounters.

In 1969, Luis Ayala and Bob Howe’s ages added up to more than 80 years for their first round match, while Howe’s clash with the great Rod Laver two years had them combining for 78 years. 

The passage of time may have been on three-time major champion Wawrinka’s mind on the eve of his fixture with Monfils too, when he seemed impatient to get out there. On Tuesday evening he called out Wimbledon on X, asking for the tournament organisers to “please” release the order of play for his match “soon”. It was a public prod from a veteran who has probably earned the right to have a bit of a moan. 

This is his 17th year playing at the All England Club, but he still could not hide his hope of getting as big a billing as possible – and even retweeted Boris Becker, who implored the tournament to schedule the match on No 1 Court. No doubt he might have wondered how many more opportunities either he or Monfils will get to delight the crowds on the biggest stage.

No such luck. These fan favourites were on the next best thing, No 2 Court, where punters were treated to a high-quality encounter, entertaining rallies and glimmers of the level these two rose to during their careers. Wawrinka let rip some of his trademark one-handed backhands down the line, while Monfils delivered an acrobatic overhead at the net, as well as some of the impressive court coverage that has always been integral in his game.

France’s Monfils and Wawrinka go way back. They first played each other on tour nearly 20 years ago in 2004. Their head-to-head is tied at 3-3, but it has taken two decades for them to play each other on grass. They know each other well on the court, as well as being good friends off it.

That was clear midway through their first-set tie-break. The score was poised at 4-3 in Wawrinka’s favour, but the pair came to the net for an embrace, after a good-humoured debate in French about whether the previous point should be replayed.

The match was close, but Monfils played the bigger points better to take a two-set lead. Wawrinka’s unforced error count proved the difference, but he cleaned up his act in the third set to keep things close.

At 4-4, he fended off three break points to keep himself in contention and then complained about the light in the following game. “Winner takes all,” one crowd member shouted, and Wawrinka turned to him with a smile, applauding the idea of a sudden-death conclusion to match he was way behind in.

As the cloudy sky turned from shades of pink to a dull grey though, Monfils was unable to clinch the win before the light won out. With the Frenchman up 7-6, 7-6, 5-5 they left the court to a rousing standing ovation and will return on Thursday to settle this battle of the old guard.