NEW YORK • Shelby Rogers held an unusual distinction when she walked onto the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.

She was the last remaining American woman in the US Open women's singles draw, and it was only the third round.

Sofia Kenin, Serena Williams and Venus Williams all skipped the last Grand Slam of the year with ailments, and others like Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, Danielle Collins and Jessica Pegula had already been eliminated.

It was looking nearly as bad for Rogers, too. But despite trailing 5-2 in the third set to top-seeded Ashleigh Barty, she completed a stirring comeback to the delight of the pro-American audience to score the biggest upset of the tournament, ousting the Australian world No. 1 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5).

The three remaining top-five seeds - world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, fourth-ranked Karolina Pliskova and world No. 5 Elina Svitolina - may not have a better opportunity to win their first Slam after defending champion Naomi Osaka was also eliminated the previous day.

Barty, 25, went into Saturday's match without losing a set in her first two encounters and held a 5-0 advantage over Rogers.

The defending Wimbledon champion was gracious after the loss, paying tribute to her opponent, saying she was prepared to move on knowing the year has been a success, overall.

"You can't win every single tennis match," Barty said.

"I'm proud of myself and my team for all the efforts we've put in during the last six months. It's been pretty incredible. I don't think we could have asked for much more honestly. I wouldn't change a thing."

Rogers was equally effusive about Barty, noting that her opponent had not been home in Australia since February, in part to avoid complications and quarantines due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

"She's resetting on the road, she's worked through some injuries on the road," the world No. 43 said. "She's won five titles. She's remained No. 1. I mean, this girl is everything every player wants to be."

Rogers' next opponent is the exciting British teenager Emma Raducanu, and having reached the quarter-final stage at Flushing Meadows last year, equalling that achievement for the second straight season is doable.

Fans are back in attendance at full capacity this year, and the 28-year-old is taking advantage.

"The crowd has taken it to another level this year," she said. "I'm thankful that I couldn't hear myself breathing as heavily as I did last year in the empty stadium.

"But, gosh, that was really something special. I got chills out there on the court. I don't know if that's normal when you're playing a tennis match, but it happened. I will never forget that moment."

After tackling two US Open debutants, Novak Djokovic faced an old foe on Saturday, reaching the fourth round with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over Kei Nishikori to stay on course for a record 21st Slam title that would complete the first men's singles Grand Slam in 52 years.

The top-ranked Serb extended his dominance over the Japanese to 18-2 in head-to-head meetings.

Djokovic will next take on American wild card Jenson Brooksby today and he is feeding off the energy from the fans.

"That's where you feel this kind of electric atmosphere, particularly in the matches like this where it's decided in a few points," he said. "Yeah, the crowd was involved. It was loud. It was nice. I thrived on that."

NYTIMES, REUTERS

US OPEN

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