Underdog Rogers on French Open tear
PARIS • When Shelby Rogers finished last season at No. 146, she set a rather modest goal for 2016: boosting her ranking enough to gain direct entry into Grand Slam tournaments so she wouldn’t need to go through qualifying rounds.
She managed to accomplish that for the French Open — but barely. At No. 108, the 23- year- old American was the last player admitted to the field at the time of the rankings cutoff last month.
Maybe it’s time to aim higher, because just look at her now.
By beating a seeded player at Roland Garros for the third time in a week, Rogers reached the first major quarter- final of her nascent career with a 6- 3, 6- 4 victory over No. 25 Irina- Camelia Begu of Romania on Sunday.
In the last 30 years, only five women ranked lower than Rogers have made it to the quarter- finals at the French Open.
“I keep reminding myself to play one point at a time and that this is just another tennis match. But that’s getting a little bit harder to do as the rounds get farther,” said Rogers, who is from South Carolina.
“I have nothing to lose. I have no pressure. It’s just been a great experience here, and I want to keep enjoying it and keep pushing myself,” Rogers said. “I’m definitely outside of my comfort zone already, and I keep telling myself: You belong here. You belong here.” Certainly does. Rogers’ next test comes against No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner- up, who will be playing in her third consecutive quarter- final at Roland Garros after overwhelming 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6- 4.
Thanks to Rogers, the United States could have multiple French Open quarterfinalists for the first time since 2004.
Three other American women play in the fourth round Monday: No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 9 Venus Williams and No. 15 Madison Keys.
The last U. S. man in the draw, No. 15 John Isner, bowed out with a 7- 6 ( 9), 6- 4, 6- 3 loss to No. 2 Andy Murray, now a quarter-finalist for the 20th time in his past 21 Grand Slam tournaments.
The key was the opening tiebreaker: Isner held t hree set points — at 6- 5, 7- 6 and 9- 8 — but failed to convert any.
“A bit deflating,” Isner acknowledged.
At 6- 5, Murray returned a 213km/h serve. Isner did not do much with a forehand reply, setting up Murray’s backhand passing winner.
“Went with ‘ option D’ there,” Isner said. “A, B, and C would have been better.”
Murray next faces No. 9 Richard Gasquet of France. Gasquet advanced to his first French Open quarter- final with a rain- interrupted 6- 4, 6- 2, 4- 6, 6- 2 victory over No. 5 Kei Nishikori.
Another quarter- final will be defending champion Stan Wawrinka against 55th- ranked Albert Ramos- Vinolas. Wawrinka beat No. 22 Viktor Troicki 7- 6 ( 5), 6-7 ( 7), 6- 3, 6- 2, and Ramos-Vinolas surprised No. 8 Milos Raonic 6-2, 6- 4, 6- 4.