The men’s draw at the US Open has been reshaped by a combination of injury and upset as the tournament moves into its decisive week. Where the women’s event lost seeds in open play, the men’s has surrendered one of its leading names to the physical toll of the sport.
Sixth seed Ben Shelton was forced to retire from his third-round match after picking up a shoulder injury, cutting short a run that many had expected to stretch deep into the fortnight. Retirements of that kind end a contest without settling it, leaving a gap in the draw.
There was a straight upset too. Frances Tiafoe, one of the American hopes, was beaten in straight sets by qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff, who had needed three rounds of qualifying just to reach the main draw.
Those results have opened up whole sections of the draw, handing chances to players who would otherwise have faced far sterner tests on the way to the latter rounds.
For the survivors, the lesson is double-edged. The path may look easier, but the same conditions that felled the seeds remain, and with play running to 7 September the men’s title race is far more open than the seedings implied.
