After Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton also breaks down into tears on-court as shoulder injury forces withdrawal from US Open

For the number one clip in his pro vocation, Ben Shelton was forced to withdraw in the middle of a tennis match. It was in heartbreaking circumstances, as a shoulder injury flared up for the big-serving southpaw while he was ahead in his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino. After the Frenchman had levelled things at two sets all, a clearly emotional and heartbroken Shelton had to take the decision to prioritise his health over this tournament.

It was a painful scene to watch as Shelton tried to keep away his tears, while his father and coach Bryan Shelton asked him to step away from this match. Shelton has enjoyed the best year of his career thus far in 2025, reaching the Australian Open semifinals, Wimbledon quarterfinals, winning his first Masters 1000 event in Toronto, and cracking the top 10 of the world rankings.

But having his journey at his home slam cut short when many saw a potential for a deep and potentially tournament-winning run got to the young American. Shelton won the first and third sets, but as his shoulder niggle got worse and worse, he was forced to shorten points and was picked apart in the fourth by the unorthodox but clinical Mannarino. The Frenchman levelled things at 2-2 in terms of sets before Shelton withdrew.

He's not the first American star to have their emotions get the best of them on court in the last couple of days: Coco Gauff also went through the motions as she struggled vs Donna Vekic, but was able to fight through a difficult evening to progress to the next round.

Shelton had reached the semifinal of the US Open in 2023, where he established himself as an electric player and strong athlete whose biggest strength was his booming and accurate serve. Shelton has improved his all-round and mental game in the years since, and still only at 22-years-old, is a good bet to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner if their paths cross deep at these grand slams.

On this occasion, the American star did all he could to keep his emotions in check, but recognised that given his red-hot form following that recent win in Toronto, had the chance to go deep into this tournament with the way he was playing.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Shelton hoped for a minor sidelining due to this injury.

“I got a lot to be grateful for, I’ve been pretty fortunate in my life. What god’s given me. Small setback like this, yeah it hurts, I was playing really well, I was in form, lot of confidence, so many things to be happy with. How I was moving on the court, competing, but like I said it’s been a great summer,” said the southpaw.

“You won’t hear me pouting about how bad things are. The summer that I’ve had, the things I’ve been able to do in this sport in a short amount of time, and the people I have around me, I got a lot of blessings,” concluded a downbeat-looking Shelton.

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