World No. 1 Ash Barty has crashed out of the third round of the US Open, losing 6-2 1-6 7-6(5) to American Shelby Rogers.
Barty showed early signs of trouble, handing Rogers a break with four double faults in the third game and slotting fewer than half her first serves, as she committed 17 unforced errors during the first set.
The Wimbledon champion found her form in the second set, grabbing a critical break in the fourth game with a forehand winner and again converting on breakpoint in the sixth, as Rogers whacked the ball into the net.
Up 5-2 in the final set, the Australian appeared poised to walk away with the win in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but Rogers roared back, winning four straight games in front of an electric home crowd, as Barty held serve to push the affair into a tiebreak.
Astonished Rogers held her hands to her face, as she clinched the match, defeating Barty for the first time in six meetings.
"I was just trying to stay in the point longer than Ash," says Rogers, the only American woman remaining in the tournament.
"She was handling my pace really well tonight. I felt like the harder I hit the ball, the better she hit."
The result was the second major upset of the women's tournament, after 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez defeated four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka on Friday.
Rogers will face British teen phenom Emma Raducanu in the fourth round.
Reuters.
