Shelby Rogers played her final singles match of her career on Tuesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium against fellow American Jessica Pegula in the opening round of the 2024 US Open.
Pegula won 6-4, 6-3, and Rogers was allowed to take the floor to address the New York audience that evening.
Throughout her extensive career, which included winning a girls’ national championship at 17, Rogers has ranked among the top 30 players in singles and the top 40 in doubles.
Throughout her career, Rogers has battled injuries, including knee surgery in 2018, which caused her to miss a number of her best years. Her longest break was from 2018 to 2020, but she made a spectacular comeback, making it to the 2020 U.S. Open quarterfinals.
She got emotional in her post-match press conference and said: “I feel like I expected to feel a lot of emotions, but the main one is just gratitude. Gratitude for all of the amazing moments, and some tough ones on this court, too. But it’s really special that I’m able to play here one more time. Thanks to my family, who’s here. Thank you. Some people flew in today or have been here a few days, waiting all day for me to play. So thank you for the support.”
She added: “My team, everyone behind the scenes that has been there for decades. It’s been a lot of years in the making. Gratitude to the Lord for these blessings, for these talents, for the opportunities to just glorify him with everything that I do.”
See you around the game, @Shelby_Rogers_ ! pic.twitter.com/qZBmohpt0m
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2024
Shelby Rogers in 2024
LLLLLLWLWL Ranked no.356, Shelby played her last match on the 27th of August when she lost to world no.6 Jessica Pegula 6-4 6-3 in the 1st round of the U.S. Open (draw).
Currently, during this season Rogers has achieved a compiled 5-11 match record.
Shelby Rogers |
| Embed from Getty Images |
