The men’s draw at the US Open has been reshaped by a mix of injury and unexpected defeats, thinning the upper end of the field as the tournament heads toward its final week. Where the women’s event has seen seeds toppled in play, the men’s has lost one of its leading names to the physical demands of the sport.
The biggest blow came when sixth seed Ben Shelton was forced to retire from his third-round match with a shoulder injury, an abrupt end to the run of a player many expected to feature deep into the second week. Retirements of that kind deflate a contest rather than settle it, and they leave a gap others must fill.
There was a clear upset too. Home favourite Frances Tiafoe was beaten in straight sets by Jan-Lennard Struff, an unseeded player who had come through three rounds of qualifying just to reach the main draw. A qualifier ousting a seeded American on one of the sport’s biggest stages is exactly the kind of result that gives a Grand Slam its unpredictability.
Together, the loss of Shelton and the defeat of Tiafoe have opened up their sections, handing opportunities to players who might otherwise have expected a far tougher route to the latter stages.
For those still in contention, the message cuts both ways. The path may look easier on paper, but the conditions that produced these results have not gone away: a shoulder can give way, and an in-form outsider can find his best tennis at the worst possible moment for a seed.
With play running to 7 September, the men’s title race is more open than the seedings suggested. The early rounds have done their work of separating the field, and not always in the way anyone predicted.
