Wednesday wrap: Rogers comeback leads busy Day 3 of results in Charleston
There is no quit in Shelby Rogers.
The Mt. Pleasant native roared back from a set and 3-5 down in the second on Wednesday evening at the Credit One Charleston Open, buoyed by her home crowd to fight past fellow American Caty McNally in three sets.
Rogers prevailed 6-7(4) 7-5 6-1 in two hours, 51 minutes, to win a second consecutive come-from-behind match, earning her place in the third round here for the first time since 2017.
“That was some Lowcountry magic if I’ve ever seen it,” a breathless Rogers said on court after her win. “There’s just some matches where you look back and you’re not sure what happened. … Thanks for the energy [and] bringing me back and making me believe in myself tonight.”
Rogers was one of a fistful of familiar names to win through in what was a busy Wednesday on Daniel Island, with 18 matches being completed throughout the day.
Defending champion Belinda Bencic took to the court following the Rogers win, but wasted no time in taking out qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-0 6-3.
Earlier, former champions Madison Keys and Daria Kasatkina breezed through in straight sets, while 2021 winner Veronika Kudermetova was knocked out by 19-year-old Diana Shnaider, who currently plays at NC State.
No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula played her first match of the season on clay and didn’t even have time to get dirty, beating Anna Blinkova 6-2 6-0 in a clean 64 minutes.
“I felt great today,” said Pegula, who formerly had her training base on Daniel Island. “I was a little better than I thought [I would be]. I’m pretty comfortable on clay.”
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa held off a stiff challenge from Leylah Fernandez, 7-5 7-6(6) in a high-quality affair that lasted nearly two hours.
“Every match helps, but maybe this one a little bit more,” said Badosa, who hadn’t won consecutive matches since January. “For me I had a very tough beginning of the season… So for me getting a win like this means a lot.”
Both Caroline Dolehide and Magda Linette scored three-set wins on Althea Gibson Club Court. Linette battled for two hours, 57 minutes against Varvara Gracheva to secure the win.
Top doubles seeds Giuliana Olmos and Ena Shibahara are the first duo into the final four.
View this post on Instagram
How Rogers did it
After coming back from a set down to beat Danielle Collins in the first round, Rogers was asked to come back from the brink for a second consecutive day – and did just that.
The two played a dead even first set before McNally leveled up her game in the breaker, then looked to have the match by the throat when she broke Rogers for a 5-3 lead. But she failed to serve the match out and then seemed to never recover, Rogers claiming 10 of the final 11 games played.
Rogers threw her racket out of her hands, screaming in delight and then running over to her player box to greet her support team.
SHELBY SHINES ✨🌟@Shelby_Rogers_ claws back from the brink to defeat McNally 6-7 7-5 6-1!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/6vDPHQcLKJ
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 6, 2023
Players in this article
