Ashleigh Barty of Ipswich, the number one player in the world in women’s tennis, will not be part of the second week of the 2021 United States Open. On Saturday, Barty was defeated by the 43rd ranked player in the world, Shelby Rogers of the United States, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 in the third round. In the third set tiebreak, Rogers beat Barty 7-5. The duration of the match was two hours and eight minutes.
Barty lost to Rogers despite winning more points in the match. Barty won 89 points, compared to Rogers, who won 86. Tennis is different compared to many other sports. The winner of the match is not necessarily the player who wins the most points or the better player. It all depends on when you win the points.
Rogers meanwhile was the more consistent server and more disciplined player over the three sets of action. Rogers had one double fault compared to eight double faults for Barty. Rogers also had 20 unforced errors, compared to 39 for Barty. The fact that Barty had almost twice as many unforced errors and eight times the number of double faults compared to her opponent in a single match is virtually unheard of, especially for the number one player in the world.
Even though Rogers had success in the third round, she had none whatsoever in the fourth round on Monday. That is because Rogers was spanked 6-2, 6-1 by the young, 18 year-old British phenom Emma Raducanu. No Australians reached the fourth round in men’s or women’s singles action at the 2021 United States Open.
