After Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe now crashes out in the US Open third round, another jolt to American Grand Slam hopes

After Ben Shelton, now Frances Tiafoe, a US Open semi-finalist twice in the past three years, crashed out in straight sets to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round on Friday (August 29, 2025). The latest jolt to America’s Grand Slam hopes came hours after the sixth-seeded Shelton withdrew from the tournament due to a shoulder injury sustained during a match against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

As far as Struff is concerned, he 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 the Danish 11th seed Holger Rune in the previous round. He 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.

Tiafoe's exit was his earliest at the US Open since a second-round loss in 2019. Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open victory is the last men's major won by an American player. Earlier in the day, Shelton retired injured from his US Open third-round match on Friday (August 29, 2025). The sixth seed sustained a shoulder injury while locked at two sets all against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.


He grabbed at his left shoulder and winced in pain after hitting a forehand shot early in the fourth set in a tight clash on Louis Armstrong Stadium and pinched at the spot as he prepared to receive a serve from Mannarino in the second game. "I just did something to my shoulder; I don't know what it is. I'm in a lot of pain," Shelton said to his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, before taking a medical timeout midway through the second game in the fourth set, as reported by news agency Reuters.

Shelton later further told his father that it was the "worst pain" he had felt in his life before meeting with the physio again but found himself on an even footing with left-hander Mannarino, who produced some moments of magic. The American was tipped as a possible contender to become the first for his country to win at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick's triumph in 2003. He looked dejected at the break and shed tears into his towel before he pulled out to gasps from the home crowd.