Ben Shelton was in great form in his battle against Adrian Mannarino in R3 of the US Open. The excitement of the match was palpable, with the players having two sets each in their record. However, it didn’t take long for things to take a massive downturn when Shelton began feeling a sharp pain in his left shoulder in the opening game of the fourth set, after taking a tumble in the third. Soon after saving a break point, the 22-year-old called his father and coach Brian Shelton. The result? The player ultimately having to withdraw from the event after receiving on-court treatment. He was visibly emotional as he gave Mannarino a walkover. And, expectedly, that same emotion carried over later, too.

During the post-match interview, a reporter asked, “Obviously, the nature of sport is losses are tough, injuries are part of the sport. But given the form you came in with, is this the hardest one you’ve ever had to stomach?” But Shelton refused to break down, saying, “I got a lot to be grateful for. Been pretty fortunate, my life. Blessings, talents, a lot of things God has given me. A small setback like this… Yeah, it hurts. Yeah. I was playing really well. I was in form, a lot of confidence, just so many things to be happy with the way I was playing, moving on the court, competing. But like I said, it’s been a great summer. A lot of things to be thankful for. And you won’t hear me over here pouting about how bad things are with the summer that I’ve had…Like I said, a lot of blessings.”

Notably, this comes shortly after the player had described the pain as “very high”, and iterated, “I never retired before. I’m not a guy who would retire if I could continue…Usually, I’ll play through anything and just kind of find a way whether it’s sickness or injury. Like, if I can stay out there, I can stay out there. I never felt anything like this before. So yeah, that was that was kind of tough.”

Of course, this is not the first time Ben Shelton has been troubled with his left shoulder. At the 2024 French Open, the American ATP star seemed to have some problems with the same shoulder during his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime. And coincidentally, this also happened in the third round. His serving speed was visibly hampered, and he had to get on-court treatment. But he didn’t pull out despite losing three straight sets. At Wimbledon 2025, we all saw the marks left by cupping therapy on the same shoulder, highlighting that he had issues with it. 

This was a tough call for the young player. After all, he still had a chance to win had he not been injured. But now that a different kind of reality has come true, what did his opponent have to say?

Adrian Mannarino opens up on Ben Shelton’s US Open withdrawal

Mannarino, during his on-court interview, reacted to Shelton’s injury. He said, “When he started to have pain, he was leading in the match. 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 was losing some, winning some, but I think it was a really cool match to play.”

Referring to his loss in Toronto where he lost 6-2, 6-3, the French player added, “Ben is playing really well, he kicked my a– 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.” Now, Mannarino proceeds to the round of 16 and will fight Jiri Lehecka tomorrow. Do you think his luck will last till then?

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