Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem experienced a terrible run of luck which saw the Austrian retire from his second round clash with American Ben Shelton.
Thiem had finally overcome his terrible run of first round exits at grand slams since his return from injury in 2021, when he defeated Alexander Bublik in his opening round clash.
The world No.81 had vomited prior to the match, and was showing signs of discomfort between ends, having spoken to a medic. In the end Thiem pulled out of the clash, with Shelton up 7-6(1), 1-0.
LIVE UPDATES: Follow latest scores and action from US Open day three
READ MORE: Panthers star recommits on monster long-term deal
READ MORE: Shock first for Crows veteran in 16th AFL season
The first set was a competitive encounter which ended in a tiebreaker in favour of the American, but the second came to a halt when Thiem appeared in distress as he awaited advice from the trainer.
When the decision was made to call it quits, Thiem shook Shelton’s hand to send the 20-year-old into the third round for the first time in his career, where he’ll play former Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev.
A bout of gastroenteritis also forced Thiem to withdraw from the Winston-Salem Open last week.
Watch US Open 2023 live and free on 9now. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on Stan Sport, with centre court in 4K UHD.
It’s been a difficult climb for Thiem since winning the 2020 US Open, who was ranked world No.3 before the global pandemic hit.
Since then injury has halted his progress, with a wrist problem leading him to fall outside the world’s top 300.
He had been knocked out in the first round of every major since coming back, before upsetting No.25 seed Bublik in straight sets to set up the clash with Shelton.