BELIEVE IT!
Rogers leaves even herself 'stunned' with major upset of top-ranked Barty
Shelby Rogers had never upset a world No. 1 and had never beaten Ashleigh Barty. She did both in the match of her life Saturday at the U.S. Open.
The young American earned her on-court, postmatch selfies the hard way. She rallied from two break points down in the final set, coming from behind to beat Barty, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5), at a raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Rogers had been 0-6 lifetime against top-ranked foes, and 0-5 vs. Barty — including four losses this year. But down 5-2 in the third, the last U.S. woman left in Flushing Meadows started hitting backhand winners, cheeky lob shots and stoked the partisan crowd into a frenzy. And she rode their energy to a stunning victory.
“I’m stunned. My heart rate is still very much elevated,” said Rogers, who had to scrap her game plan to win.
“Down 5-2, two breaks, not looking too good. I had thoughts of ‘Well, good try. Here we go again . ... She got me again, [she is] too good.’ Then, I tried to brush that away and say, ‘Let’s try to make some balls here, get the crowd into it.’ ... The crowd’s been nuts. I’m partially deaf after that [noise]. I said, you know what, if I’m going down, I’m going to give a last dying effort.”
But the Arthur Ashe crowd wouldn’t let her die.
Trailing 5-2, Rogers tweaked the game plan. (”Can’t get any worse. You’ve lost to her every time,” Rogers shrugged. “Try something different.”)
That meant not trying to overpower her on her serve or with her forehand. That meant running and covering ground and playing defense.
Rogers moved as well as she has since her 2018 knee surgery — one that took her out of the game for a year and left her wondering if she’d ever get back.
“Six months after my surgery, I remember telling my [physical therapist] I’m not sure if I’ll ever play again,” Rogers said in an on-court TV interview. “So this is extra special. And to do it in New York is incredible for me.”
Especially because Rogers had made a quarterfinal run here last year. But that was in empty stadiums that were so quiet she could hear herself breathing.
Ashe was anything but quiet Saturday night. And winner after winner as she rallied, Rogers waved her arms, prodding the crowd to get even louder.
Barty had two chances to serve out the match, but Rogers staved her off both times with service breaks on unforced errors. The Aussie had 39 in all, and she paid for them.
“Tough one. It’s never nice when you have a couple opportunities to serve out a match and can’t get it done,” Barty said. “Look, a six in the third is brutal. It’s a tough one to swallow. But it is what it is.”
For once, it was Barty taking that bitter medicine.
Before the match, Rogers had watched video of Vitas Gerulaitis finally breaking through against Jimmy Connors, quipping, “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.” Apparently, nobody beats Rogers six straight times either.
Even down 5-4 in the tiebreak, Rogers took the last three points. And when the final one was won, she covered her face in shock. She to the sky, then to the crowd and mouthed the word, “What?”
“As much as it hurts to lose — nobody likes it — you have to find a way to improve from it . ... I have to thank her for teaching me a lot of lessons,” Rogers said with a laugh. “I journal quite a bit, take notes on players, scout. Half my book is on Ash.”
Now, she’s onto the fourth round and scouting 18-year-old Emma Raducanu.