‘Can’t get any worse’ – Shelby Rogers explains how she downed Ashleigh Barty at US Open

Shelby Rogers pulled off one of the shocks of the US Open as she beat world number one Ashleigh Barty on Saturday.

The American, who is the only woman from the US left in the draw, started the match brilliantly against an uncharacteristically error-prone Barty.

That ended in Rogers taking the first set, but predictably Barty reacted and improved to take the second and force a decider.

Barty was also up 5-2 in the third set against 43rd-ranked Rogers, but was twice unable to serve out the match.

That gave a glimmer of hope to Rogers, who kept her nerve to win the tiebreak and claim a huge 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 win.

“I just tried to fight for every point,” Shelby Rogers said on court after the match.

“That’s so cliche, I’m sorry. You guys (the fans) were awesome. I didn’t want to leave.

“I just said you know make balls, try to stay in this match, can’t get any worse, you lost to her every time. So, try something different.

“I was just trying to stay in the point longer than Ash. She was handling my pace really well tonight. I felt like the harder I hit the ball, the better she hit.”

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