Ben Shelton faces difficult task on his return from injury as his ATP Finals place hangs in the balance

Ben Shelton will make his return to action at the Shanghai Masters after being sidelined with an injury he sustained at the US Open.

In his third-round clash with Adrian Mannarino at Flushing Meadows, Shelton suffered an injury to his shoulder, forcing him to retire from the contest.

The American later said of the pain that he had ‘never felt anything like this before’, and consequently withdrew from the Japan Open to recover.

Now, Shelton will face a difficult task in his comeback, as his place in the ATP Finals hangs in the balance.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty ImagesBen Shelton’s challenging return to action at the Shanghai Masters

The US star has been handed a tough draw at the upcoming Shanghai Masters, which is the penultimate ATP 1000 event on the calendar.

Following a first-round bye, Shelton will face one of David Goffin or Alexandre Muller in his opening match, and will likely come up against big server Gabriel Diallo in round three, on one of the quicker hard courts on tour.

Should he advance to the fourth round, a potential clash with an in-form Casper Ruud awaits, whom he has not beaten since 2022.

Shelton finds himself on the same half of the draw as both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, and very well may have to overcome one of them in order to reach the final.

An early exit at the Shanghai Masters could prove costly in the ‘Race to Turin’ for the 22-year-old, who currently has 3710 live points in the annual battle for a place in the year-end tournament.

He is sixth in the race currently, with Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti just behind him, totalling 3345 and 3335 points, respectively. 

With Jack Draper out for the remainder of the season, the biggest threat to his spot is Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has a tally of 2705 points following a semifinal run at the US Open.

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesBen Shelton’s results during the North American hard-court swing

Prior to his injury, Shelton was enjoying an impressive hard-court swing in North America, having clinched a maiden Masters 1000 title in Toronto.

At the Canadian Open, he beat the likes of de Minaur and Taylor Fritz en route to the final, where he came out on top against Karen Khachanov to hoist the title.

Shelton also reached the semifinals in Washington, and the last eight in Cincinnati.

His US Open campaign began promisingly with two straight-set victories in rounds one and two, but the shoulder pain was too much for him to continue against Mannarino in the third round.