Ben Shelton has now been gifted with a golden opportunity after what’s happened to Holger Rune

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Ben Shelton’s return to tour-level action recently did not go the way he had hoped.

At the US Open, Shelton suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth set of his third-round clash with Adrian Mannarino.

The American was sidelined from late August until early October, when he played his first match back at the Shanghai Masters.

His campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 event ended abruptly, however, with Shelton losing in the first round to David Goffin.

Photo by Hu Chengwei/Getty Images

Now, the 23-year-old US star will get his indoor hard-court season underway in Basel, at one of the final ATP 500 events of the season.

Shelton is seeded second at the Swiss Indoors with a favourable draw, and his chances of making the final have just been boosted after what has happened to Holger Rune.

Ben Shelton’s draw in Basel becomes even more favourable

The Dane was drawn in the same half as Shelton for the Swiss Indoors, with the two seeded stars on a semifinal collision course.

However, Rune recently picked up an injury during the Stockholm Open semifinals, which brought him to tears and forced him to retire from the final four clash.

With the world number 11 a doubt for the tournament, the bottom half of the draw has been blown wide open, with Shelton the clear frontrunner.

In his first match at the competition, Shelton will play a qualifier and will face Jaume Munar or another qualifier in round two, should he advance.

The highest seed in his quarter is Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has failed to build on his impressive semifinal run at Flushing Meadows.

While there are some tough potential opponents in his way, Shelton now has a great chance to clinch his second title of the season and record a strong finish to the year.

Ben Shelton’s titles and finals tally in 2025

Shelton has reached two tour-level finals in 2025, the first of which came at the Munich Open in April, where he finished as the runner-up.

After beating the likes of Botic van de Zandschulp and Francisco Cerundolo in Germany, Shelton ultimately fell to Alexander Zverev in the final, losing in straight sets.

Four months later, the former Grand Slam semifinalist finally claimed a crown by winning the Canadian Open, his first Masters 1000 triumph.

Shelton put on an incredible display in Toronto, defeating Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Karen Khachanov to hoist the trophy.