After Saving Four Match Points to Stun Kvitova, Rogers Still Hungry for More

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After Saving Four Match Points to Stun Kvitova, Rogers Still Hungry for More

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday September 6, 2020

American Shelby Rogers was barely inside the Top 200 when 2020 started, but you couldn’t really fault her for that. Left knee surgery in 2018 had taken her out of the game for about a year and she was just working her way back into form. She needed time.

Apparently, not that much time.

The 27-year-old has already arrived back inside the Top 100, and based on her trip to the quarterfinals at the US Open this week, she’ll rise inside the Top 60 even if she doesn’t win another match in New York.

“I think the low moment was six months after my surgery where I didn't think I'd be able to play,” Rogers said after saving four match points to defeat Petra Kvitova in three sets, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, on Sunday. “I wasn't confident in my knee. I wasn't able to move like I thought I should. Here I am two years later as fit as I've ever been and moving really well.”

Rogers has been red hot all season, and picked up big confidence from a victory over Serena Williams at Lexington three weeks ago.

She says just sticking with her plan and working hard has taking her where she wants to go.

“I think just sticking with it, trusting the team I had around me, telling me I could do it, sticking with it,” she said. “I thought of myself as a higher-ranked player. When I stepped on the court, I didn't see that number. I felt like I would get back to where I wanted to be if I just kept doing the things that I knew were right, stuck with the process.”

Rogers will face Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals on Tuesday in New York.

She has never lost to the No.4 seed, but hasn’t faced her in over three years. She says now that she’s arrived at her first Grand Slam quarterfinals in over four years, she wants to push herself, to see if she can go further.

“I knew I could always do it,” Rogers said. “It was a matter of head down, working hard to get back to that point. Being here, I want to push past it, really see what I'm made of.”

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