Ben Shelton Was Trinity Rodman's Biggest Fan at NWSL Game After U.S. Open Exit

Couple goals.
Ben Shelton showed up to support his girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, at a Washington Spirit game after his unexpected U.S. Open exit.
Ben Shelton showed up to support his girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, at a Washington Spirit game after his unexpected U.S. Open exit. / Screengrab on Twitter/ @NWSL

Ben Shelton wasn't going to let an early U.S. Open exit keep him down for long.

The American tennis star was seen cheering on his girlfriend Trinity Rodman during Sunday's NWSL game between the Washington Spirit and Chicago Stars. For the past month, Rodman had attended quite a few of Shelton's matches at the Cincinnati Open and U.S. Open—sometimes even taking red-eye flights to make it to New York—and Shelton didn't wait long to return the favor.

Shelton was pictured in casual street clothes in the stands at Audi Field in Washington D.C., just days after he retired from his third-round match against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino due to a shoulder injury.

Cameras also caught Shelton's adorable reaction to Rodman nearly scoring a goal on a header from a Washington free kick:

Rodman, 23, previously dealt with a back injury that forced her to leave training in mid-April, but the Spirit striker returned in time for the NWSL's resumption of the regular season in late July. She tallied eight goals and six assists in 26 games for Washington last year.

Rodman, who has been dating Shelton since March, shared a sweet message to the 22-year-old tennis star after he exited the U.S. Open. "You are strength and dedication," Rodman wrote on her Instagram Stories. "I love you, and you’ll be back stronger."


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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.