Ben Shelton retires while Frances Tiafoe & Emma Navarro crash out of US Open in nightmare day for Americans, Taylor Fritz keeps hopes alive

On Friday, August 29, Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz survived while Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and Emma Navarro crashed out of the 2025 US Open in the third round in a nightmare day for American top seeds.

In the current North American swing, Ben Shelton has been in fine form, winning the Canadian Open and earning his career high-ranking of No. 6. He has a history of performing well at the US Open, and hopes were high after his straight set wins in the first two rounds.

Against Adrian Mannarino in the third round, Shelton started strong, winning the first set, but the Frenchman fought back and leveled the score. The sixth seed won another set, but in the fourth set, a sharp shoulder pain deteriorated his performance. Eventually, Shelton retired after four sets were split equally among them.

Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe, who has not had the greatest of seasons, was hoping to do well on home turf. He won the first round in straight sets and managed a four-set win in the second. However, the 17th seed succumbed to a 4-6, 3-6, 6-7(7) loss to unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff to bow out.

On the WTA side, it was 10th-seeded Emma Navarro who fell. She won her first two matches in straight sets, but former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who also defeated Victoria Mboko, got the better of the American 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In one of the final matches of the day, Taylor Fritz kept American hopes alive. The fourth seed earned a 7-6(3), 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiss player Jerome Kym.

Also making it to the fourth round is the unlikely American hope, Taylor Townsend. The World No. 139 pulled off a major upset by getting the better of fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round 7-5, 6-2.

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Apart from Taylor Fritz and Taylor Townsend, Coco Gauff and Tommy Paul are also alive in the 2025 US Open

Taylor Fritz at the 2025 US Open - Source: Getty

Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula, and Taylor Townsend have reached the fourth round of the 2025 US Open. Among those yet to play their third-round matches are Coco Gauff and Tommy Paul.

Third seed Gauff will be taking on 28th seed Magdalena Frech. The American has defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round and Donna Vekic in the second, to set up her third-round clash.

Meanwhile, 14th seed Tommy Paul started his campaign with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Elmer Moller. In the second round, he managed a gritty 7-6(6), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 win over Nuno Borges. In the third round, he will take on the 23rd seed, Alexander Bublik.