Former Top 50 Player Shelby Rogers Returns To Charleston After 12-Month Injury Break - UBITENNIS
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Former Top 50 Player Shelby Rogers Returns To Charleston After 12-Month Injury Break

Despite admitting that she is unsure if she is ready, the 26-year-old is hooping to stage a winning comeback this week.

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This year’s Volvo Car Open in Charleston marks the return of a familiar face to the WTA Tour.

 

Shelby Rogers last played a competitive match at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she lost in the first round. Since then, the American player has been sidelined from the tour due to a troublesome left knee injury that required surgery. The first significant injury of her career to date.

“I just missed it so much,” the 26-year-old told The Post and Courier about her comeback. “I was going crazy sitting inside and laying around, so I had to get on the court just to remember what it was like.”

Rogers has been ranked as high as 48th in the world. She is best known for her surprise run to the quarter-finals of the French Open. In that tournament, she scored wins over Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova and Irina-Camelia Begu. Rogers has also reached the final of two WTA events on the clay in Austria and Brazil. At the time of her knee problems, the American was ranked 78th in the world.

“I talked to other players and people who have had been injured, but there’s nothing to prepare you for what you go through.”

During her injury break, Rogers embarked upon other activities such as working as an announcer for The Tennis Channel and doing an online course with the Indiana University East. Although it wasn’t easy dealing with the shortcoming in money during her hiatus from the sport. Rogers has made just over $2 million in prize money throughout her career. Putting her 222nd on the all-time list for the most prize money won by a female player (as of April 1st, 2019).

“That’s a part that I think could be improved with the Tour,” Rogers commented about financial support for injured players. “It’s something I never had to deal with before, and something I didn’t really understand until this happened. You take a year away from a job, and anybody would struggle with that.
“It was a big learning process and I tried to keep myself busy and try some new things to see different sides of the Tour and the game, and that was fun.”

This week will be the first test of Rogers’ current fitness in Charleston. Her first round opponent will be Russian world No.68 Evgeniya Rodina. Rodina has endured a sluggish start to 2019 after winning only two out of 11 matches played. It will be the first time the two have played each other since 2010, when the Russian won in three sets at an ITF $50,000 event in Dothan, America.

“I still don’t know if I’m ready,” Rogers admits. “But I was always ready for the comeback. That’s what kept me motivated, to come back and play the sport I love again. If you don’t have that purpose, it’d be very difficult to do that four hours a day of physical therapy and work through that pain.”

Rogers will play her first round match on Monday in what will be her ninth appearance at the tournament.

This year’s Volvo Caro Open will feature three top 10 players in the draw. Sloane Stephens is the top seed, followed by defending champion Kiki Bertens and Aryna Sabalenka. All eight seeded players has received a bye in the first round.

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Hamad Medjedovic wins the Next Gen Finals title in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic came back from one set down to beat Arthur Fils 3-4 (6-8) 4-1 4-2 3-4 (9-11) 4-1 after 2 hours and 11 minutes at the Next Gen ATP Finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic hit 38 winners to 21 unforced errors. 

The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Medjedovic earned a mini-break to take a 3-2 lead and held two set points at 6-4, but he was not able to convert them. Fils won four consecutive points to win the tie-break 8-6. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game to win the second set 4-1. 

Medjedovic becomes the sixth Next Gen ATP Finals champion, joining top 10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The 20-year-old Serbian player is the lowest-ranked champion in tournament history. 

Medjedovic started the third set with an early break in the first game. The Serbian player held on his serve to seal the set 4-2. 

Medjedovic recovered from squandering two match points at 6-4 in a thrilling tie-break of the fourth set at 5-6 and 7-8. Fils saved both chances on second serves and won four of the next five points to win the tie-break 11-9 forcing the match to a deciding set. 

to win the first five-set final in tournament history. The Serbian player won 88% and converted his third match point to clinch the biggest title of his career so far. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game of the fifth set. Fils earned himself a penalty point for a smash of his raquet and went down 0-3. Medjedovic held on his next service games and converted his third match point. 

“Two of us from Serbia. Djokovic won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it’s a huge thing and I am happy to follow in his footsteps in some way. I can’t believe I have won this title. It’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024. Arthur is an amazing player. He is top 40 for a reason”, said Medjedovic. 

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Elena Rybakina headlines a strong line-up in Adelaide

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Elena Rybakina, Zheng Qinwen, Carolina Garcia and Angelique Kerber will highlight the Adelaide International, a WTA 500 tournament.

 

Rybakina reached the final at the Adelaide International on her tournament debut in 2022, losing to now retired Ashleigh Barty. Rybakina went on to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon later last year. The Kazakh player finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in 2023. 

Zheng won her first WTA 500 title in Zhengzhou and reached the final in Zhuhai, ending the 2023 season at a career-high of world number 15. 

Angelique Kerber will make her come-back to the WTA Tour at the United Cup before playing her first WTA draw in Adelaide. Kerber gave birth to her daughter Liana last February. The German player won titles at the 2016 Australian Open and in Sydney 2018 and reached in Sydney 2014 and in Brisbane 2018. 

Kerber is one of the three former number 1 players, who are making her come-back on the WTA Tour after giving birth to their children. 

Caroline Wozniacki lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff in the Round of 16 at the US Open in her third tournament back. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is planning to make her return next January after giving back to her child Shai last July. 

“It’s definitely way more tournaments than I used to play. So I think some people will be happy with that. I realized that I don’t know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me. I don’t know the level of player and I think I have to ease into it. At the very least, I will set myself up for a very good end of the year”, said Osaka.

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Arthur Fils beats Luca Van Assche in all-French semifinal at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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World number 36 Arthur Fils beat his friend Luca Van Assche 2-4 4-1 4-3 (7-1) 4-3 (8-6) in an all-French clash after 1 hour and 37 minutes to reach the final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Van Assche, who was born in Belgium but moved to Belgium when he was three years old, broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and served out the first set to 15. Van Assche won 12 of the last 14 points. 

Fils hit a couple of big forehands to earn three break points at 2-1 15-40. Van Assche saved one break point with a volley, but Fils converted his second chance to open up a 3-1 lead, as Van Assche netted a backhand. Fils served out with a hold at 15 to level the match at one set apiece. 

The first five games of the third set went on serve. Van Assche led 2-3 30-40 on Fils’serve to earn two set points. 

Fils saved them before racing out to a 5-0 lead. Van Assche won his first point with a forehand. Fils earned five set points and closed it out when Van Assche netted a backhand. 

Fils won 22 consecutive points on his first serve until 2-1 in the fourth set. Van Assche faced a match point at 2-3, but Van Assche saved it to force another tie-break. Fils opened up a 4-1 with a mini-break. Van Assche won three points to 4-4 before saving two match points at 4-6 and 5-6. Fils hit a forehand to earn a fourth match point and converted it when Van Assche sent a backhand over the baseline. 

Van Assche beat Fils in the boys’ singles final at 2021 Roland Garros. Fils won his first title in Lyon last May. 

“I played every point trying everything with my forehand, moving very good. I was very happy with the tie-break. Today was a tough match against a great friend. We have known each other since we were nine, so it was a little bit tough and I am happy with the win. I came onto the court with the mindset that I can win. The first set was tough, he was playing very good and defending so well, running very fast. I kept my focus and I am really happy with the win”, said Fils. 

Fils set up a final clash against Hamad Medjedovic, who advanced to the championships match, when Dominic Stricker was forced to withdraw in the second set due to a back injury in the semifinal. 

Medjedovic was leading 4-3 (7-5) 2-1 when Stricker walked to the net and ended the match. 

Medjedovic hit 12 winners to 3 unforced errors. The Serbian player won three matches in the round-robin group. 

Medjedovic won 93% of his first serve points in the first set. Stricker did not drop a point on his first serve. Medjedovic earned his only mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic earned an early break in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead before Stricker retired from the match. 

Medjedovic reached two semifinals in Gstaad and Astana. He is coached by Viktor Troicki. Stricker advanced to the semifinals at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. 

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