Ben Shelton retires from US Open third round following acute shoulder injury

NEW YORK—Ben Shelton was forced to retire prior to the fifth set of his US Open third round against Adrian Mannarino on Friday, suffering from an acute shoulder injury with the score tied at 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, ret.

The No. 6 seed, Shelton was leading Mannarino by two sets to one when he was heard telling father and coach Bryan that “I did something to my shoulder and I don’t know what it is,” describing feeling “in a lot of pain” before calling a mid-game medical timeout.

Despite looking visibly compromised on several shots, Shelton played through the fourth set in the vain hope of securing a straightforward victory, but was unable to continue into a fifth and made the emotional decision to retire from the match upon Mannarino’s return from an off-court break.

The 22-year-old Shelton is a former US Open semifinalist and enjoyed a Masters 1000 breakthrough earlier this summer when he won the National Bank Open in Toronto. He followed up that result with a quarterfinal finish at the Cincinnati Open and won both of his first two rounds in straight sets against Ignacio Buse and Pablo Carreño Busta.

At 37, Mannarino is a former world No. 17 making his 15th main-draw appearance at the US Open, but had never made it past the third round. The Frenchman won a close sixth game in the fourth set that could have handed Shelton a crucial break, and served out the fourth set on his sixth set point.

Mannarino will next face No. 20 seed Jiri Lehecka for the chance to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.