American tennis suffered a devastating Friday at the US Open as Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe were eliminated within an hour of each other, leaving only Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the men's singles draw.
Shelton, the No 6 seed, was forced to retire from his third-round match against France's Adrian Mannarino with a shoulder injury. Leading two sets to one, the 22-year-old landed heavily on his left arm and told his father and coach, Bryan: 'I did something to my shoulder. I don't know what it is.' Despite physio treatment and a tactical switch, he could not continue, and Mannarino advanced 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, ret. It was Shelton's first career retirement.
Shortly after, Tiafoe, the 17th seed and a semi-finalist in two of the past three years, fell to German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9) on Grandstand court. Tiafoe admitted: 'I played extremely passive today. I didn't put any pressure on him at all. It's going to be hard to swallow how I played today.'
Struff, ranked 77th, will face either Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie in the fourth round. The twin exits leave Fritz and Paul as the last American men standing, as the nation's 22-year wait for a male grand slam champion continues.
