‘Probably would have won’: Star in tears after injury ends shot at 22-year US Open first

Demon powers into third round at US Open | 02:02

America’s hopes of ending their 22-year men’s drought received a double blow on Saturday morning AEST as Ben Shelton retired through injury, while Frances Tiafoe crashed out in straights sets in the third round of the US Open in New York.

A shoulder injury scuppered sixth seed Shelton’s hopes of becoming the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003.

The big-serving Shelton, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2023, departed the Louis Armstrong Stadium court in tears after being forced to retire at the end of the fourth set of his match against French veteran Adrian Mannarino.

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Shelton, 22, was leading 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 but clutched his shoulder in pain early in the fourth set and called a medical timeout.

He recovered but retired after Mannarino took the fourth set.

It was the first time in his 178 career matches that Shelton has been forced to pull the pin, and comes as a disappointing end to the final grand slam of a career-best season, that has included a Canadian Open crown earlier this month and a semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park.

“When he started to have pain he was leading in the match, he honestly probably would have won that match,” said the 37-year-old Mannarino.

“It’s very unfortunate for him and lucky for me.”

A few hours later, Tiafoe, a US Open semi-finalist twice in the past three years, crashed out in straight sets to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Struff came through the qualifiers to reach the main draw and continued to upset the odds, taking out 17th seed Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) to make the last 16 in New York for the first time.

The 35-year-old Struff defeated Danish 11th seed Holger Rune in the previous round and could face 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic for a spot in the quarter-finals.

The German had not won a match at Flushing Meadows before this tournament since reaching the third round in 2020.

When asked if his five-year-old son would be watching from home during his on course interview, Struff replied with a laugh: “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,” he continued.

“I wanna also say a special happy birthday to my father. It’s his birthday today.”

Tiafoe’s exit was his earliest at the US Open since a second-round loss in 2019.

Earlier, Spanish second seed Alcaraz breezed past Italian 32nd seed Luciano Darderi in emphatic fashion, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz’s one hour 44-minute victory sends the 2022 US Open champion into a meeting on Sunday against France’s Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated compatriot Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Alcaraz is aiming to finish the season on a high after winning the French Open in June before losing in the final of Wimbledon last month.

The five-time Grand Slam singles champion opened play on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s main court, and admitted he had been nervous about his 11:30am local time start.

“I’m not an early morning person so it’s difficult for me to wake up in the morning,” Alcaraz said. “One of the good things today though I woke up early, did the warm up and felt good.

“Starting at 11:30 my first goal is to start well with a good energy and rhythm. I played great tennis, good performance so I’m proud of that.”

Alcaraz needed a medical timeout while leading 5-4 in the second set for treatment on his right knee, but later said he had no injury concerns.

Later Saturday AEST, 38-year-old Novak Djokovic will aim to move closer to a possible semi-final showdown with Alcaraz when he takes on Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the evening session.

The seventh-seeded Serbian legend is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title in New York, where he has won four times before.

In other men’s draw action, Czech 20th seed Jiri Lehecka sailed into the next round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Belgium’s Raphael Collignon.

In the women’s draw, meanwhile, world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka faces Canada’s 31st seed Leylah Fernandez in a night game on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Sabalenka is aiming to become the first woman to successfully defend the US Open since Serena Williams won a hat-trick of titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Fernandez reached the final of the US Open in 2021, where she was beaten by Britain’s Emma Raducanu -- the only player in history ever to win a Grand Slam singles title after emerging through qualifying.

Raducanu’s hopes of another fairytale run in New York came to a juddering halt on Friday when she was steamrolled in straight sets by Kazakh ninth seed Elena Rybakina, losing 6-1, 6-2.

Rybakina will face 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the fourth round after the Czech ousted Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

In other women’s draw matches, American fourth seed Jessica Pegula comfortably defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 7-5 to reach the fourth round, where she will face either Australia’s Priscilla Hon or compatriot Ann Li.

Belgian 19th seed Elise Mertens, a two-time US Open quarter-finalist, meanwhile exited in three sets, upset by Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

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