Double American blow as Ben Shelton retires with 'worst pain ever' and Frances Tiafoe also exits US Open

As Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz remain in the tournament, two of the main American hopes in the men's draw have seen their US Open campaigns fade as Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe have exited in quick succession.

Shelton who has had such a good few weeks showed how cruel the sport can really be as he had to retire at the start of the fifth set against Adrian Mannarino. Wanting to continue in front of a packed US Open home crowd, he tried his best but it proved to be bad enough to stop.

After winning the third, he took a tumble to the ground and started to feel a sharp pain in his shoulder in the opening game of the fourth set. After saving a break point, he signalled to his father and coach Bryan Shelton that he was in significant pain. He was forced to take an MTO and called it the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life. The World No.6 continued on perhaps not wisely as he soon retired. He had to rush to the net on almost every point and tried to battle on.

But at the end of the fourth set down 6-4 and likely en route to defeat, he decided to call it a day. After such a great Canadian Open and also the American No.1 spot there potentially, he now could face a stint on the sidelines while the veteran Frenchman continues on in New York. He joked that he'd never won a match from the toilet.

“When he started to have pain, he was leading in the match,” Mannarino said in his on-court interview. “Honestly, he probably would’ve won that match. That’s unfortunate for him, and lucky for me. I don’t really know what to say right now. I’m happy to be through but I wish him the best, of course.”

“I’m just trying… I’m 37 years old and it’s the first time I’m winning a match from the toilet,” joked Mannarino. “There’s always new things coming up and I’m just enjoying my time on the court. I hope I can extend it for a little while.

“I was having good fun on the court, there were some really long rallies,” said Mannarino. “I was losing some, winning some, but I think it was a really cool match to play. Ben is playing really well, he kicked my ass at the beginning of the summer, but it was a great match. I was enjoying it, even if I was losing, it was a pretty cool match.”

While it was another European who paid heed to the American dream as tall German ace, Jan-Lennard Struff who is always a sneaky dangerman given his previous heights backed up his win over Holger Rune.

He saw off Frances Tiafoe in just three sets to book his spot in the Last 16. He claimed it 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 and the 35-year-old who already had to win multiple matches to qualify has taken his chance. It is a third Grand Slam last 16 but a first since 2021 when he was perhaps towards his peak. But the danger is a player like Struff can spoil the party at any point and he did here.

Albeit his son he hopes won't be watching but he hopes he gave him an early birthday gift. He spoke about school tomorrow and on social media, it was joked that he got confused with the time zone as its Saturday. “It’s midnight in Germany, so hopefully he’s not watching. He has school tomorrow, It’s amazing that I can be here. For sure I miss my family. I wanna also say a special happy birthday to my father. It’s his birthday today.”