Frenchman Gilles Simon moved into the Wimbledon third round without striking a ball when Ukrainian opponent Illya Marchenko pulled out with a shoulder injury.

Simon, the 26th seed, could face Britain’s Andy Murray next if the world number four beats Jarkko Nieminen on Centre Court.

Marchenko, who was said by organisers to be suffering with a right rotator cuff injury, benefitted from an injured opponent in his first round when Michael Berrer quit after two sets.

Simon was one of six Frenchman featured in the bottom half of the draw on Thursday while Nicolas Mahut was scheduled to complete his extraordinary first round match against American John Isner in the top half.

The score was level at 59-59 in the fifth set after exactly 10 hours of play on Court 18 when bad light intervened for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.