Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. Shelby Rogers describes Ashleigh Barty as one of her favourite people, but she has grown more accustomed to seeing the world No 1 on the opposite side of the net this year than she would have wished, and the experience has been a chastening one.
Having suffered four consecutive defeats, Rogers decided to try something different, setting out to diminish the effectiveness of Barty’s big forehands and rhythm-disrupting sliced backhand by reverting to the kind of high, looping forehands she last deployed in the juniors. The tactic worked a treat, the unseeded Rogers clawing her way back from 5-2 down in the final set to deliver the biggest upset so far at this year’s US Open with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory hewn of courage, guile and tenacity.
“I am stunned,” said Rogers, 28, the world No 43. “My heart rate is still very much elevated. I’m very excited with that win. Tonight, going on the court I told myself I didn’t want to lose the same way I lost the last five times against her. I just tried to do things a little bit differently. In the first set, I mixed in some high balls, I was super patient with her slice, because she’s not going to miss one very often. I know that very well.
“In the second and third, she definitely raised her level, as she does. I mean, she’s the No 1 player in the world for a reason. But I started wanting to hit the ball a little bit harder, find some winners if I could. That’s the tennis I like to play. That’s what she wants me to do. She wants to redirect and finesse me around the court, wait for me to miss. I was just happy and really proud of myself tonight for problem-solving, if you will, maybe doing some things I’m not super comfortable with, like hitting some high balls like I’m back in the 12s, playing defence honestly. It ended up working somehow.”
With Barty struggling to establish her customary rhythm and fluency, Rogers played a near-flawless opening set, making just three unforced errors to the top seed’s 17. It was a rare show of fallibility from Barty, and a dip in standards so sharp that it brought four double faults in one game alone was never likely to last. The Wimbledon champion swept through the second set, and stood on the brink of victory as she stepped up to serve for the match at 5-2 in the third, a double break in hand.
“There are so many thoughts that go through your mind,” said Rogers, “when you won a first set and the momentum changes. In a tennis match the momentum changes so often, especially against a player like that. She can just take the match back in a couple swings, a couple serves. She holds at love a few times. What can I even do against her, right? Down 5-2, two breaks, not looking too good. Not a situation I want to be in at all. I had some thoughts of, ‘Well, good try, here we go again’ kind of stuff, right? She got me again, too good.’ Then I tried to brush that away and say, ‘You know what, let’s try to make some balls here, let’s get the crowd into it.’”
As she chased and battled, Rogers found her audience in receptive mood, delirium descending on the Arthur Ashe Stadium for the second successive night as errors crept back into Barty’s game. As the crowd sensed an upset of comparable proportions to Naomi Osaka’s loss against Leylah Fernandez the previous evening, Rogers forced a tiebreak in which she matched Barty step for step until the Australian sent a forehand long to bring up match point. A 105mph serve from Rogers sealed the deal.
“It’s never nice when you have a couple opportunities to serve out a match and can’t get it done,” said Barty. “It’s a tough one to swallow. But it is what it is tonight. I found a way back into my match. I found a way to really turn it in my favour and wasn’t able to quite finish off.
“I played a pretty awful first set in the sense where I was erratic. I couldn’t quite find the rhythm of how I wanted to play. I found a way back into the match, found a way to turn the match back in my favour, have a couple of opportunities to serve it out and be within a couple of points. Disappointing not to get it done.”
Rogers will face a very different challenge next in the shape of British teenager Emma Raducanu, who continued her extraordinary run with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Sara Sorribes Tormo, the world No 41. While the margin of Raducanu’s victory over the indefatigable Spaniard scarcely seemed credible, it was just reward for the 18-year-old’s flawless and fearless shot-making against an opponent good enough to take down Barty in the opening round of the Olympics.
“She’s been in great form,” said Raducanu. “I can definitely tell why, because she’s such a tricky opponent to play. I kind of went out there with nothing to lose, and just knew that if I was going to win, or have a shot of winning, that I was going to have to dominate and hit the corners as many times as possible and not miss. I managed to execute today, so I’m really pleased.”