Adrian Mannarino admitted that Ben Shelton “probably” would have beaten him, had he not picked up a tournament-ending shoulder injury during their third-round match in Flushing Meadows. Shelton was the No. 6 seed at the US Open, and came into the tournament in form after winning his biggest career title in Toronto.
But he injured his shoulder while winning a thrilling rally on set point in the third set, and was seen grabbing it in pain throughout the fourth set. Shelton even received medical treatment from the physio in the middle of a game, but he retired in tears when Mannarino took the set to level the score at 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-4.
World No. 77 Mannarino had left the court for an end-of-set comfort break when Shelton called the physio for the final time and started to tear up, accepting his fate. His father and coach, Bryan, was also seen signalling to quit the match.
The American waited for Mannarino to return to the Louis Armstrong Stadium before he officially retired, and departed the court with a towel covering his head. Afterwards, the Frenchman said it was “of course” not the way he wanted to win.
“When he started to have pain he was leading in the match, honestly, he would have probably won that match,” Mannarino said of his opponent.
“That’s very unfortunate for him and lucky for me. I don’t really know what to say right now. Of course I’m happy to get through and I wish him the best, of course.”
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