PARIS (AP) — Ben Shelton compared himself to a Major League Baseball left-hander after a painful shoulder prevented him from playing his best in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 third-round loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open that concluded on Saturday after being suspended a night earlier because of rain.
“Felix just played way too well today. Even if I didn’t have whatever I had going on, it would have been a tough one to get through, with the way he was playing,” said the 15th-seeded Shelton, a 21-year-old American who reached the U.S. Open semifinals and Australian Open quarterfinals last year.
“I just feel like a pitcher who’s thrown too many pitches, way over his pitch count,” he said. “A lot of rain delays. A lot of on and off. Everybody’s dealing with it, not just me.”
Shelton was down 5-4 in the opening set against No. 21 Auger-Aliassime at Court 14 on Friday night when play was suspended. The resumption of the match on Saturday shifted to Court Suzanne Lenglen, one of two arenas at Roland Garros with a retractable roof, allowing them to play even as showers plagued the clay-court tournament for the fifth day in a row.
“Playing a set last night with soaked balls, muddy balls, it kind of just, I guess, aggravated my shoulder a little bit,” Shelton said. “But I went out there and did what I could today and gave 100%.”
His exit was followed several hours later by that of another American, No. 14 Tommy Paul, who was beaten by No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. That left one U.S. man left in the bracket: No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who outlasted unseeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-3 at night to earn a debut appearance in the fourth round in Paris.
Fritz, who has been to the quarterfinals at each of the other three majors, is the first player from his country to reach the men’s round of 16 at Roland Garros since 2020.
“With my seeding and how I’ve been playing, I really expect it. … It’s, I guess, a huge relief to get to this point, because it’s something that I wanted a lot,” said Fritz, who now meets No. 7 Casper Ruud, the runner-up at the French Open each of the past two years.
It was clear during the restart of Shelton’s match that he was not able to produce his usual high-powered serves — even before his left shoulder was massaged by a trainer. Auger-Aliassime, a Canadian who got to the U.S. Open semifinals in 2021, claimed Saturday’s initial five games to close out the opening set and lead 4-0 in the next.
