JOIN USStan Wawrinka was stunned that he had to play his Wimbledon third round tie today in a scheduling nightmare which will force him to play five matches in seven days to win the title.
The third-seeded Australian Open champion defeated Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2009.
But the match should have been played Saturday before it was cancelled due to the torrential rain which swept the All England Club.
Wawrinka will now play his fourth round on Tuesday against 19th seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain who also waited until Monday to see off John Isner, the ninth seeded American, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
Victory on Tuesday would mean a quarter-final on Wednesday before getting back on schedule for semi-final day on Friday and a potential final date on Sunday.
However, the top half of the draw, featuring top seed Novak Djokovic and defending champion Andy Murray, was completed on Saturday while Wawrinka's main title rivals in his section, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, also finished their third rounds two days ago.
"I was disappointed. I was expecting them to move matches, move maybe juniors or doubles, to make my match or Isner/Lopez's match first on when they started at 5:00pm or 6:00pm again when it stop raining," said Wawrinka.
"But you cannot do anything. They do what they want and you just follow. They don't listen to the player. They just do what they think is good for them."
He added: "I was surprised because (after the rain) it was a perfect day to finish. They said for security reason, they didn't want to put our match on a small court. But (Kei) Nishikori (the 10th seed) was playing on small courts."
In the remaining third round match to be completed, Nishikori saw off Italian lucky loser Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 after the pair had finished 3-3 in the decider on Saturday.
In his maiden last-16 appearance, Nishikori will face Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Djokovic and Murray were aiming for decisive Wimbledon blows after Saturday's rain washed away plans to play all fourth round matches on Monday.
Djokovic, the 2011 champion and runner-up to Murray 12 months ago, takes on flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a semi-finalist in 2011 and 2012.
Djokovic has a 12-5 winning record over Tsonga, including the 2011 last-four at Wimbledon as well as the quarter-finals of the 2012 Olympics which were also played at the All England Club.
Tsonga's last win over the Serb was four years ago in Australia.
"I don't fear anything. I expect him to serve well. I think that's his advantage," said Djokovic, the winner of six majors.
Djokovic or Tsonga will play Croatian 26th seed Marin Cilic for a place in the semi-finals.
Cilic reached the quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-6 (10/8), 6-4, 6-4 win over France's Jeremy Chardy.
Murray has reached the last 16 for the seventh year in succession and has dropped just 19 games in three rounds, comfortably a personal best in his tournament history.
The third-seeded Murray plays Kevin Anderson, the first South African to make the fourth round for 14 years.
"He's a big guy with a big game. He's played some very good tennis this year. Probably been his best year on the tour so far in terms of consistency. It will be tough," said Murray who has a 1-1 record against Anderson.
Murray won in straight sets in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open before Anderson hit back with a win at the 2011 Montreal Masters.
In other last-16 clashes on Monday, France's Jeremy Chardy plays Croatian 26th seed Marin Cilic, who is coached by 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic. Bulgarian 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov faces Argentina's Leonardo Mayer.
Seven-time champion Federer will face fellow 32-year-old Tommy Robredo on Tuesday while Nadal tackles Autralian teenager Nick Kyrgios.