Forty-one years ago, native New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis finally defeated longtime rival Jimmy Connors, and with it, uttered one of the most famous one-liners in tennis history: "Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." On Saturday night at the US Open, in the late Geralitus' backyard, Charleston, S.C. native Shelby Rogers said she was inspired by those words to pull off the most stunning result of the women's singles tournament so far.
For the first time in six tries, Rogers beat world No. 1 and top seed Ashleigh Barty—and in comeback fashion, to boot. From 5-2 down in the final set, Rogers won four straight games, and held her nerve late in a decisive tiebreak for a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 victory.
"You know what's funny? This morning, I was watching the video of Vitas Gerulaitis when he said, 'Nobody beats me 17 times in a row,' ... I was only at six!" Rogers, who suffered four of those loses to Barty in this season alone, joked with ESPN's Pam Shriver in her on-court interview.
"I just said, 'Make balls, try to stay in this match, it can't get any worse [because] you've lost to her every time, so try something different."
In addition to that inspiration, Rogers' "something different" turned out to be a complete change in her game plan.
"I told myself I didn't want to lose the same way I lost the last five times against her," Rogers later told reporters after the match.
"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 [age 12-and-under juniors], playing defense honestly. It ended up working somehow."
Rogers wasn't the only player to end a long string of futility against a specific opponent in Week 1: also in Round 3, Angelique Kerber defeated Sloane Stephens for the first time in nine years, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive sets lost to the American in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
"On the court, for me, Sloane is always a tricky opponent. She's playing high, she's going forward, she has a good serve. During the match, I'm really not thinking too much about the head-to-head that we have," Kerber said.
"But before you walk on court, you know, of course, that the last few matches, you lost. For me, it was really important to have the mentality that I really want to win the match and going there to fight for every ball. I think that was for me the key to turn around the match, especially after the first set."
In addition to a tactical shift, a determined metality also proved important for Rogers in her upset: she was candid about the pressure she faced on her return to the US Open—"I was definitely very nervous before my first match," she said—after reaching the quarterfinals a year ago.
"I think every time I lose a match, I try to learn as much as I can. As much as it hurts to lose, nobody likes it, you have to find a way to improve from it, improve your game, constantly trying to get 1% better every day. I guess I have to thank her for teaching me a lot of lessons," Rogers said.
"I think I journal quite a bit, take notes on players, scout, things like this. Half my book is on Ash at this point... I think what I've learned most from her is that she's No. 1 for a reason. It was going to take everything I had tonight to beat her. I gave everything I had and got the win. That's what it comes down to.
"Lots of failures I think have taught me a lot of lessons, and the setbacks that you speak of have given me a really good perspective... I think just appreciating the sport for what it is. Realizing that I can do something pretty special and inspire a lot of other people. That's a big reason why I play, seeing smiles on other people's faces. If I'm not enjoying it, then why am I here, you know what I mean?"
