Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff’s Brother Rally Behind Ben Shelton After Injury Concerns Force US Open Exit

“Usually, I’ll play through anything and just find a way,” Ben Shelton said in the post-match interview on August 29 after the 3rd round match against Adrian Mannarino. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the match where he could just fight through the excruciating pain. And thus, the American retired from a match for the first time in his 178 professional career matches. It’s unfortunate, to say the least, especially considering the form he had been in. Even Mannarino confessed that the American probably would have walked out with the win had the match—which was evenly poised when he retired—gone all the way. Thankfully for the 22-year-old, he has enough well-wishers to help him deal with this setback.

The 2023 US Open semi-finalist took to Instagram on August 30 to share his thoughts on the disappointing end to a promising campaign. The guy who has a knack for showmanship and theatrics on the court brought every bit of that essence to his post. The caption read: “NYC was a movie as always. Just a bad ending… I’ll be back”. And his fans have no doubt he will, stronger and better.

The well-wishers turned up in numbers in the comment section to show Shelton he has all the love he needs. And what do you know? American tennis star Taylor Fritz became one of the people who was also seen in the comments. The 27-year-old dropped a mending heart emoji “❤️‍🩹”, expressing sympathy for his compatriot. Taylor knows what kind of fighter Ben Shelton is and how difficult it must be to stay away from the court. By sharing the emoji, maybe the 2024 US Open Finalist is just saying to Ben Shelton, ‘There’s a time for everything.’ And right now, it’s time to heal.

And there was another big-name connection. Coco Gauff‘s younger brother and baseball prodigy popped up in the comments. Codey Gauff had to show his support and assure Shelton that the latter will overpower this injury like he does with his opponent on the court. “Shake back 💯,” wrote Codey, as the World No. 6 plans his next step.

Will he be able to recover in time for the Nitto ATP Finals? More importantly, will he be able to stay within the Top 8 rankings required for ATP Finals qualifications? Ben Shelton, unfortunately, won’t have much say in it. This freak injury has finally brought the American down.

Bel Sheldon’s left shoulder problems and near misses

The issue was aggravated at the end of the third set against Mannarino, when Shelton chased down a shot to the corner and won a wild point on the back of an outrageous return. Well, it’s not a shocker, to be honest. It’s just the Ben Shelton way, pushing the limits. But as he landed on his left hand, he was in grimacing pain. And as soon as the fourth set started, the 22-year-old knew it was different.

“I never felt anything like this before. So yeah, that was, that was kind of tough,” Shelton said in the post-match presser. He had been dealing with his left shoulder niggles for a while now. And it goes back more than a year. In the 2024 Roland Garros, left shoulder troubles ended up giving him a straight-sets loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round.

That he had been undergoing treatment on that shoulder was clearly visible to the tennis world at the 2025 Wimbledon. So, the American has had to push on despite not being at 100%. But he never stepped down. Furthermore, Ben Shelton has not really played the pity card. Rather, his response to the injury has been very mature. “I got a lot to be grateful for. Been pretty fortunate, my life. Blessings, talents, a lot of things God has given me.”

For him, this is a small setback, but something he’s not getting stuck on. “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.” Which means Ben Shelton will return and pick up from where he left off. Meanwhile, what you can do is Stay on top of every twist and turn in the US Open with our Live Blog.