Shelby Rogers played nearly flawless tennis in her first round match, dismantling Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour. She served zero double faults, and won 68% of her first serve points, and 73% of her second serve points, to Mladenovic’s 48% and 33%, respectively.
“I’m very happy with the way I played. It’s always nice to take care of business and get on court and get off the court. I’ve been playing very well, kind of carried through from the French Open on, even the matches that I’ve lost the last few tournaments I still think I’ve very well and had my chances. It was a bit windy out there today though so I don’t think either one of us felt like we were playing well. You know, I made a lot of balls and made it happen, so happy to get through today in those tough conditions,” Rogers told VAVEL after her decisive win.
“The serve was tough today, the toss was moving around a bit in the wind. I feel like my percentage was pretty high, I don’t think I had any double faults in there so that’s always nice. I felt like I was attacking well in the court trying to take control of the points, but I think the biggest thing today was the unforced errors were down and when it’s windy, that’s huge.”
Getty Images Sport | Adam Glanzman
Rogers' Season in Review
She cited this season as the best in her career. In particular, her quarterfinal run to the French Open gave her a monumental boost in confidence, in addition to the validation that she is a serious contender at these premier level events. After this year’s quarterfinal run, she had totaled as many wins at the French Open as she had in her entire career at all of the other Grand Slams combined.
“I’ve always been pretty comfortable on the clay, so nothing new there. But it did give me a lot of confidence, just that belief and trust in myself that you okay, I can compete at this level, I have what it takes right now to beat these girls, I don’t have these gaping holes in my game. Of course, everyone can always get better, but hey, this is possible,” she noted.
The world number 167 also shared her goals leading up to this season. Given her recent success—from becoming a top 50 ranked player, to earning upsets over top players—she has been able to set her hopes higher. Specifically, she upset Petra Kvitova—who is the two-time defending champion of the Connecticut Open—en route to her quarterfinal debut.
“It’s shifted a little bit. Obviously, you have to reassess and make new goals as things start to happen but [the] beginning of the year it was to make the main draw of the slams and I did that, and I’m in the main draw at the U.S. Open as well. I had a goal to be top 50 before the U.S. Open, so I can check that one off. So I think I need to start making some new goals too. But I’m very excited with the way I’m playing, going into New York and it’s just such a great time of year. Being an American we have so much support, it’s really exciting.”
Getty Images Sport | Adam Glanzman
Certainly, for someone who seven months ago was ranked 153rd in the world and who opted out of the Australian Open with the hopes of playing in a $25,000 challenger and gaining more points, Rogers can boast the pride in herself.
“I’m happy, I’m enjoying everything I’m doing, I’m having such a great time travelling around and just fighting on the court, playing matches, competing, doing what I love for my job, it’s pretty hard to explain how it feels, but I’m very blessed in that regard.”
Rogers is scheduled to play either seventh seed Timea Bacsinszky or Johanna Larsson in the second round.