It was a punishing afternoon for American men’s tennis at the US Open as Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe exited less than an hour apart, leaving only Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul still standing in the singles draw.
Shelton, the No 6 seed and one of the leading contenders to end the United States’ 22-year wait for a men’s grand slam champion, retired from his third-round match against France’s Adrian Mannarino with a shoulder injury. It was the 22-year-old’s first career retirement and came as he led by two sets to one before disaster struck late in the third.
After landing heavily on his left arm while stretching for a ball, Shelton began to grimace and told his father and coach, Bryan: “I did something to my shoulder. I don’t know what it is.” Despite a mid-set visit from the physio and a tactical shift that saw him attempt 13 serve-and-volley plays in the fourth set alone, he could not protect his lead. Mannarino levelled the contest and, as the crowd braced for a decider, Shelton bowed his head on the changeover and called it off. The Frenchman advanced 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, ret.
Shelton departed Louis Armstrong Stadium with his shoulder wrapped in ice, a towel draped over his head and tears in his eyes. The left-hander has been one of the game’s rising stars over the past two years, his booming serve and charismatic presence making him a marquee attraction in New York. He arrived on the back of a maiden Masters 1000 title in Toronto and a quarter-final run in Cincinnati, and his matured game had carried him through his opening two rounds without the loss of a set.
“When he started to have pain he was leading the match – he honestly probably would have won,” Mannarino said. “It’s very unfortunate for him and lucky for me.”
For the 37-year-old, ranked 77th in the world, it was a bittersweet breakthrough: his first win over a top-10 opponent at a major in 23 attempts and his first appearance in the second week of the US Open. He will face the Czech No 20 seed, Jiri Lehecka, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Frances Tiafoe suffered his earliest US Open defeat since 2019 on Friday afternoon. Photograph: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
If that loss was not dispiriting enough for home fans, Frances Tiafoe followed Shelton out soon after. The 17th seed, a semi-finalist in New York twice in the past three years, fell flat against German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff amid an overflow crowd on the Grandstand court. The 35-year-old struck 14 aces and never allowed Tiafoe into rhythm, completing a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9) upset to reach the last 16 here for the first time.
Struff, who upended Danish No 11 seed Holger Rune in the previous round, continued his unlikely run having not won a match at Flushing Meadows since 2020. His reward could be a fourth-round meeting with Novak Djokovic for a place in the quarter-finals. For Tiafoe, it was his earliest exit at the US Open since 2019.
The double blow means just two American men remain in the singles draw. Fritz, the 2024 runner-up in New York and a Wimbledon semi-finalist in July, was due to play Swiss qualifier Jérôme Kym on Friday night. Paul, a 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist, came through a five-set epic against Nuno Borges that ended in the early hours of Friday morning.
Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open triumph remains the last men’s major title for an American. On an afternoon to forget for the US contingent in Queens, the chances of that drought ending next week narrowed considerably.
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