American tennis star Ben Shelton has made strong runs in recent Grand Slams. There is no doubt that the world No. 6 had high hopes entering New York for the 2025 US Open.
Unfortunately for Shelton, those hopes were dashed due to an ill-timed injury during his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino on Friday afternoon.
During the changeover between the fourth and fifth sets, a teary-eyed Shelton sat on his bench and exchanged a look with his father and coach, Bryan Shelton. The elder-Shelton gave his son the nod to retire from the match. Mannarino won in four sets: 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 6 Ben Shelton retires with an apparent shoulder injury after playing four sets of his third round match at the US Open.
Adrian Mannarino is on to the fourth round. pic.twitter.com/8fmCQ0dsTL
— ESPN (@espn) August 29, 2025
Of course, this would be a huge blow to any player. It is especially painful for the 22-year-old Shelton, who made it to the semi-finals of the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open.
An emotional Shelton waved goodbye to the fans as he exited the court. A short time later, Shelton met with the media, where he described the severity of his shoulder injury.
When asked if he knew when he hurt his shoulder and if it happened before the match, Shelton shook his head, “No, I can’t pinpoint it. Didn’t go in with an injury. I’m not sure.” Shelton was asked if his team had plans to get any imaging done, and he concisely replied, “Yeah, we’ll see. Um… We’ll see.”
When asked how hard this was for him, Shelton sat up in his seat and struck a positive tone, “Yeah, I’ve got a lot to be grateful for, I’ve been pretty fortunate in my life. Blessings, talents, a lot of things God’s given me, and yeah, a small setback like this hurts.”
Shelton later explained, “Usually, I’ll play through anything and just kind of find a way, whether it’s sickness or injury. If I can stay out there, I can stay out there. I never felt anything like this before. That was kind of tough. I guess the uncertainty.”
When asked about the conversation with his physio in the fourth set, Shelton explained the focus was on alleviating pain, not weighing the decision of playing or not. In the final question, Shelton reiterated that the pain started in the fourth set, but he could not pinpoint when the injury occurred.
Shelton falls to 37-18 on the season. Mannarino will face Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round on Sunday, August 31.
The US Open singles tournament runs through September 7. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated’s Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.
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