Former world number one calls for tennis to make big rule change after Ben Shelton retires at the US Open with injury

Ben Shelton was unable to complete his third round match at the US Open after retiring due to injury.

Shelton was backed as a potential US Open title contender this year, particularly after winning the biggest title of his career at the Canadian Open.

However, injury has prevented the world number six from doing so, with his opponent Adrian Mannarino reacting to Shelton’s retirement after he was handed a place in the fourth round of the US Open.

Many including Taylor Fritz have reacted to Shelton’s retirement, and now a former doubles world number one has called for tennis to make a big change.

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Pam Shriver calls for Grand Slams to change rules after Ben Shelton retires at the US Open

Shelton is not the only ATP player who has been struggling physically at the US Open this year, with both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz taking medical timeouts in their latest matches.

Former US Open singles finalist and 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion Pam Shriver has already called for changes to be made to tennis at this year’s tournament.

Men’s Grand Slam matches being best of five sets is often a big topic of conversation, but Shriver believes the format needs to be shortened after Shelton’s retirement.

The former doubles world number one wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “I understand the tradition of men playing three of five sets in majors, but given the way tennis is played now, the demands of more travel, more extreme heat & the depth in the game making early rounds more demanding, we need to have a shorter format. I hope Ben & Novak are ok.”

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Ben Shelton reveals how painful his shoulder injury is after US Open retirement

This is the first time that Shelton has retired from a tennis match, and there were many questions about the extent of his injury in his post-match press conference.

After retiring after losing the fourth set of the match, Shelton explained that this injury was unlike anything he had felt before.

“Usually I’ll play through anything and just find a way,” said Shelton. “And whether it’s sickness or injury, if I can stay out there, I can stay out there. I’ve never felt anything like this before, so that was kind of tough, I guess the uncertainty.”

Shelton was later asked how high the pain was in his shoulder, “Really high. I never retired before. I’m not a guy who would retire if I could continue.”

It is still unclear as to how serious this injury is for Shelton, who will now likely undergo scans to find out what his recovery period will look like.

Shelton’s next scheduled event is at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, which begins on Friday, September 19.

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