Ben Shelton reveals he was in pain for a good 10 to 15 minutes after suffering a hit to his knee during the Felix Auger-Aliassime match, and also added that it might have been adrenaline that helped him play out the full match.
After taking the first set against Auger-Aliassime, Shelton found himself 2-4 down in the second-set tie-break. During the seventh point in the tie-break, the world No. 5 hit his knee - and as soon as the point was over - he started holding to his knee in pain. However, the American refused to take a medical timeout, and even managed to save three break points before the eighth-ranked Canadian converted his fourth set point to win an extremely tight second set.
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Despite the injury, Shelton continued to play and compete well, but disappointingly got broken when serving to stay in the match as Auger-Aliassime completed a narrow 4-6 7-6 (7) 7-5 win in just less than two and a half hours of play.
Shelton: It hurt really bad in the first 10-15 minutes... But I didn't feel it through the whole third set
"It's fine, yeah. I don't know. I think it should be okay. It was just one of those where, like, hit it really hard on the ground. It hurt really bad for the next 10, 15 minutes. I wasn't about to stop and call the trainer, then come back and try to serve down a mini break and stay in the set. I just kept going. Maybe adrenaline. But I didn't feel it at all through the whole third set," the American explained.
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Since Shelton was also beaten by Alexander Zverev in his opening ATP Finals match, he now stands at 0-2 and won't be making it past the group stage.
"Not the best so far week for me. Obviously that is frustrating and disappointing, being as big of a tournament as it is," the 23-year-old admitted.
Shelton plays against Jannik Sinner in his last group-stage match.
