US Open 2021: Ash Barty, the highest seed of the ladies, upset within the third spherical by the American Shelby Rogers

The top seeded women Ash Barty suffered a surprising loss to the American Shelby Rogers and lost 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) in the third round of the US Open on Saturday evening in New York.

Rogers, ranked 43rd in the world, started the match in good shape with an early break on the way to completing the first set. Australia’s world number 1 fought back hard in the second to drive the match into a crucial set.

Barty started the third with a break but was broken twice herself trying to play the match off.

Rogers refused to turn, forcing the match to a tie-break where she kept her nerve for a close win.

The duo had previously faced each other five times, with the Australian winning each time. Despite these defeats, Rogers had nothing but good things to say about Barty, as she praised her encouraging nature and ability to deal with real adversity this year.

“She’s one of the most professional people I’ve ever met in my life, as well as a good person, a fun person,” said Rogers after the game. “She is super down to earth. I mean she’s one of my favorite people.

“I was joking before, every time I lost to her I can’t be mad because she’s such a nice person. It’s like, man, she just kicked my butt, but then she says : “Oh, you’ll find it someday. ‘ She encourages everyone around her and brings up energy wherever she goes.

“I can’t say how much respect I have for her and what a great representative she is for women’s tennis.

“I want to talk about what she’s been up to this season. I think a lot of people take it for granted. She hasn’t been able to go home since February. That’s crazy. I mean, she’s getting back on the road. She worked “She won five titles and stayed number one. I mean this girl is everything any gamer wants to be.

“Honestly, I could do this for another 20 minutes. She’s one of my favorite people, so I always try to take advantage of the moment when I hug her.”

Barty herself showed real grace in defeat, admitting that it didn’t hurt so much to lose to Rogers because she was a good person.

“It sucks in tennis that there is a winner and a loser every day, but sometimes you don’t mind losing to certain people,” said Barty.

“I think Shelby is certainly one of them for me in terms of her personality and character.

“The last six months have been a roller coaster ride. I think back to the very first match I played on the trip. I was 5-2 behind in the third set of the first round in Miami. Tennis has a fun way of the night. ” Things off, right? “

An 18-year-old sensation in the form of Emma Raducanu is now awaiting Rogers in a fourth-round duel early next week, with the qualifier looking to continue her own impressive US Open run.

Barty has never won a US Open singles title. Her best performance in the competition was the fourth round in 2018 and 2019.

However, the 25-year-old achieved double success in the tournament. In 2018 she won the title with CoCo Vandeweghe.

Barty won her first Wimbledon title in July of this year and also won a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Australian announced in July that her Wimbledon success was all the more special considering that she is fit for the tournament in time. Because of a hip injury, she had to retire from the French Open in May.

“They held a lot of cards close to their chest and didn’t tell me much about the odds, didn’t tell me a lot of information they’d gotten from other specialists,” said Barty. “I think they didn’t tell me that it just proved how exposed we were to the adversity. There weren’t many radiologists in Australia who saw my injury. In a way, it was a two month injury.

“To be able to play here at Wimbledon was a miracle.

“I think it was amazing to play through this event now without pain. Certainly it looked a lot less likely now than I had statistically seen. I think it was an incredible month.”