After a month away due to a painful injury, Ben Shelton’s tennis comeback just got ruined by an unnatural force. No, it’s not a UFO. Stepping onto the court for the first time since his US Open setback, the 22-year-old was determined to kick off his Shanghai campaign with an impactful performance. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to make it happen whatsoever. The R64 battle between Shelton and Belgium’s David Goffin witnessed a suspension on the Stadium court in Shanghai on Friday afternoon.

Contrary to expectations, Goffin stunned the World No.6 by snatching the first set. However, the American star managed to get hold of the match soon. In the second set, he was leading 4-3. Just when it looked like he would level the fight, the clouds hovered over the court to play spoilsport. Even his compatriot Frances Tiafoe’s match, against Yannick Hanfmann, was affected by the sudden downpour. Thankfully, the courts they were playing on had roofs.

Several other crucial battles also received considerable delays, especially on the outdoor courts. These included a singles match between Benjamin Bonzi and Gabriel Diallo and doubles clashes featuring Neal Skupski/John-Patrick Smith vs. Felix Auger Aliassime/Robin Haase and Andre Goransson/Alex Michelsen vs. Francisco Cabral/Lucas Miedler, among many others.

Update: The action between Shelton and Goffin resumed after several minutes. The roof was closed at the Stadium court.

While the downpours eventually stopped to make way for Shelton, his chances of winning had washed away. The youngster’s third appearance in Shanghai didn’t yield an expected result. Goffin dominated him in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) to clinch the victory while securing a third-round spot.

Interestingly, it was Goffin’s second top 10 win of the season as well. Back in March, he even bested Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open. Speaking of his heroics against Shelton on Friday, the 34-year-old now has a clean record against the American. In the H2H tally, he is leading him 2-0 after the latest outcome. Quite impressive from someone sitting at the 83rd spot in the rankings. So the question remains for Shelton: what’s next?

What’s next for Ben Shelton after Shanghai Masters setback?

Fortunately, the campaign for the Americans in Shanghai is not completely over. It is because he is yet to kick off his doubles journey alongside Kazakh star Alexander Bublik. The pair will go against Zizou Bergs and Romain Arneodo on Saturday. However, Shelton’s focus remains on getting better in singles.

While he may have witnessed a shocking result upon his return, a few more opportunities remain to get back in rhythm, especially ahead of the ATP Finals, where he can cement his place among the top 8 contestants. Ahead of the Shanghai campaign, he expressed his wish to qualify for the year-end tournament.

“It is the first time I have put myself in a good position at this point in the year to make Turin. Hopefully I get a couple more good results and get over the line,” reported ATP Tour’s website on September 30.

The Paris Masters will give him a perfect chance later this month. However, the main ongoing issue is Ben Shelton’s track record at the ATP 1000 event. In his past two appearances (2023 and 2024), he failed to move past R64 and R32, respectively. It will be intriguing to see how he performs this time on the French hard court in the year’s last Masters extravaganza.