NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 29: Ben Shelton of the United States gestures towards his shoulder during the fourth set against Adrian Mannarino of France during their Men’s Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 29, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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A tearful Ben Shelton retired with a left shoulder injury ahead of the fifth set of his third-round match with Adrian Mannarino at the U.S. Open.
It was a brutal ending for Shelton, who was playing the best tennis of his life. He had won his first Masters 1000 title a few weeks ago in Canada and also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Shelton was on track to potentially face No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, but instead the 37-year-old Mannarino advanced to meet No. 22 Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16. Mannarino had been 0-22 against Top 10 in Grand Slams.
Shelton first grimaced in pain after hitting a forehand at the end of the third set. He took a medical timeout at the beginning of the fourth, and could be seen telling his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, that he felt “the worst pain I ever felt in my life” on the forehand.
The elder Shelton advised his son to chip the return and get to net, and Ben Shelton did both of those but was soon unable to hit a topspin forehand altogether.
“When he started to have pain he was leading in the match, honestly he would have probably won that match,” Mannarino said on court. “So yeah, that’s unfortunate for him, and that’s very lucky for me. But yeah, don’t really know what to say right now, but of course, I’m happy to get through and I wish him the best, of course.”
The veteran Mannarino was able to take advantage of Shelton’s struggles, moving him around the court while Shelton struggled on the forehand side.
“Ben is playing really well,” he said. “You know, he kicked my ass in the beginning of the summer, and he’s such an amazing player. But it was a great match. I was enjoying my time honestly on court, even if I was losing, it was a pretty cool match.”
An American man has not won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open and now one of its major hopes is out early.
“This is my favorite tournament,” Shelton, the 22-year-old left-hander from Atlanta and 2023 U.S. Open semifinalist, said ahead of the tournament. “I think that we’ve got a lot of guys….who can make deep runs here and play against the best players in the world. I think that it’s a matter of time for us.
“You know, I think that the media will keep probably asking questions and debating until that happens. I can’t wait for that to happen, then we can kind of move on to a different question.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2025/08/29/world-no-6-ben-shelton-retires-with-shoulder-injury-at-us-open/
