‘Tough one to swallow’: Barty crashes out of US Open from 5000-1 odds

A Las Vegas bookmaker had Ash Barty at 5000-1 to lose when she led 5-2 in the final set against Shelby Rogers at the US Open. She lost … and now she’s probably heading home.

Ash Barty congratulates her American conqueror Shelby Rogers

Roger Federer used to amuse himself by annihilating homegrown players in the first week of majors. Americans in New York City, Frenchmen in Paris, Australians in Melbourne – he would humiliate the trumped-up local and then laugh himself silly all the way back to the locker room.

I could have sworn Ash Barty would do a Federer against American Shelby Rogers at the US Open. I thought the Wimbledon champion would silence the wildly parochial New York City crowd and deliver an emphatic statement about why she’s the world No.1. Instead, despite twice serving for the match after leading 5-2 in the third set, Barty was stunned 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) in what was probably her final match of a spectacularly successful year.

When Barty was serving at 5-2 in the deciding set, one Las Vegas bookmaker, Caesars Sportsbook, had Rogers at 5000-1 to win. “It’s disappointing. A tough one to swallow,” Barty said before giving every indication she was about to return home. “You can’t win every single tennis match that you play. I’m proud of myself and my team for all the efforts we’ve put in in 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.”

Barty’s world tour began with a 50-hour trip to Miami in March. Just about every other player on the WTA Tour, except the Australians, have been able to return to their home countries during the year. Barty has been forced to live exclusively out of suitcases and hotel rooms because quarantine rules in Australia have made it pointless for her to come back. Now the time appears to have arrived for the 25-year-old to pack her bags, scoop up her Wimbledon trophy and get back to Ipswich to celebrate and savour a season to remember. It has been an unmitigated triumph.

Federer was always intent on starting quickly against a homegrown product. His message to the crowd was clear: you’re kidding yourselves if you think I’m going to lose. Barty’s sluggish beginning gave the masses inside Arthur Ashe Stadium a reason to believe in Rogers. When the match went down to the wire, they roared for the World No. 43 like she was closing in on a win in the Kentucky Derby.

Asked to explain her shock victory, Rogers said: “I’m not sure I can. I just tried to fight for every point. That’s so cliche, I’m sorry. You guys are awesome. I didn’t want to leave. I just said, ‘Make balls. Try to stay in this match. It can’t get any worse – you’ve lost to her every time, so try something different.’

“What an incredible atmosphere. It’s something I’ll never forget. It was another heck of a match from Ash. She is a competitor, she is such a fighter and I have so much respect for her. What she has done this year is unfathomable. She hasn’t been able to go home for the whole season, she’s won five titles. The level she brings each week is what we all aspire to do.”

Barty had won all five previous encounters against Rogers, who said: “You know what’s funny? This morning I was watching of video of Vitas Gerulaitis when he said, ‘Nobody beats me 17 times in a row.’ I was only at six, so … the first thing is not giving away too many free points against Ash. She just wants to massage you around the court, finesse you with her slice. She’s going to make that all night long.”

Rogers squeezed through the tie-breaker, put her hands to her head in disbelief, shed tears after match point. Barty calmly put her water bottles in the bin, placed her racquet in her bag, zipped it up and walked away.

She’s been overseas for six months. The majors have all been played so she will decide soon whether it’s time to return home to Australia. She was gracious as ever, saluting the crowd, smiling, waving and giving a thumbs up. The NYC patrons got to their feet and sent her away to deafening and respectful applause.

Barty twice served for the match in the final set. She had struggled all tournament to close things out and this time it came back to bite her. Her service game at 5-2 was poor, lowlighted by a double-fault and a couple of loose errors. She did little if anything wrong at 5-4 but by then the adrenalized Rogers was in Kentucky Derby-mode.