More rain has left Bernard Tomic one game short of a place in the second round at Wimbledon.
Tomic moved to 5-3 in the fifth and deciding set of his on-off first-round battle with Fernando Verdasco before the weather gods intervened again on Wednesday.
The match resumed on a knife edge at two sets apiece after being abandoned on Tuesday night.
But not before Tomic had to wait anxiously for another hour after the scheduled restart when the covers were removed from court three at the All England Club.
Verdasco gifted the 2011 quarter-finalist an early opportunity to break with two double-faults in the first game upon the resumption, but Tomic was unable to capitalise.
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But he gained a vital break four games later, much to the delight of Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, who bellowed a signature "come on" from Tomic's courtside box in celebration.
Tomic had to hold his nerve and serve from love-40 down to consolidate for 5-3 after fighting off five break points, only for light drizzle to force the players off once more.
The Australian No.2 is hoping to win and return on Thursday to play either Portugal's world No.92 Gastao Elias or Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot for a likely crack at 14th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Rain is also thwarting Matt Barton's bid to join fellow Australians Nick Kyrgios, John Millman, Daria Gavrilova and Samantha Stosur in the second round.
Barton resumed his first-round clash with fellow qualifier Albano Olivetti trailing the Frenchman by a set and with the score locked at 5-5 in the second-set tiebreaker.
He quickly drew level by taking the breaker, then clinched the third set before rain halted play with Barton leading 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in his Wimbledon main-draw debut.
Kyrgios opened his campaign on Tuesday with a typically lively 6-4 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 win over Radek Stepanek, Millman edged out Albert Montanes 7-5 4-6 5-7 6-4 6-3 and Daria Gavrilova rallied for a spirited 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Qiang Wang.
Stosur beat Magda Linette in straight sets on Monday and is scheduled to take on former finalist Sabine Lisicki in the fourth match on showcourt 18 on Wednesday (early Thursday AEST).
