Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe all bounced in Rome openers

Three of the four highest-ranked U.S. men fell in their opening matches at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Saturday, including world No. 4 Taylor Fritz.

A quarterfinalist in Rome a year earlier, Fritz was ousted by countryman Marcos Giron. The 31-year-old prevailed, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), despite trailing 4-0 in the second set. For Giron, it marked his second Top 5 victory this season (d. No. 5 Ruud in Indian Wells second round) and first Top 10 win on clay.

Fritz, whose European clay swing was delayed until Madrid due an abdominal issue that has plagued him intermittently this season, dropped to 16-8 on the year. An in-form Jack Draper can now overtake the 2024 US Open finalist for the No. 4 seed at Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals here, while Madrid champion Casper Ruud can do the same with another title run. Fritz is due to play the Geneva Open before making his way to the French capital.

Ben Shelton is also in jeopardy of having his seeding notably impacted following his loss to Jaume Munar. The Spainard got the better of the left-hander for the second time in 2025 (Dallas second round), much more convincingly on this occasion with his 6-2, 6-1 dismissal.

Munar broke five times while holding in every service game to book a third-round encounter with Sebastian Korda. The No. 22 seed beat Aleksandar Vukic, 6-3, 6-4.

Shelton currently sits at No. 12 in the ATP’s live rankings, but the likes of Tommy Paul, Arthur Fils and Francisco Cerundolo can bump him down to the Paris major’s 13-16 seed group. The 22-year-old has lost three of four matches since reaching the BMW Open final in Munich.

Frances Tiafoe was eliminated by Sebastian Ofner. The 143rd-ranked qualifier pulled out a 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win and gets Cerundolo for a fourth-round spot. Tiafoe—ranked No. 15 coming in—has one final chance to pick up matches ahead of Roland Garros, having entered the 500-level event in Hamburg.

As for Paul, his day went according to plan. The No. 11 seed swept past Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-1, 6-4, and awaits 19th-seeded Tomas Machac.