Rogers’ Breakout Run Ends in Title Match Loss to Germany’s Petkovic
American Shelby Rogers’ magical run at the Gastein Ladies tournament in Austria came to an end on Sunday as the 21-year old American fell to Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 3-6 in the event’s title match.
Rogers had her chances early; breaking the 20th-ranked Petkovic’s serve to go up 2-1 in the opening set. However, the German was able to able to fight back and level the frame at 3-3. From there, Petkovic took it to the young American, rattling off six straight games to capture the first set and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the second.
While Rogers would not go quietly, the experience and discipline of Petkovic was too much. After Rogers crept back to 2-3 down, Petkovic would jump ahead 5-2 and eventually get a break point to win the final set 6-3 to win the Gastein Ladies trophy.
“It’s a super feeling, I am totally happy,” said Petkovic. “I want back into the top 10 and I am just playing good tennis. My serve and my footwork can still improve but I am playing well.”
Petkovic made it to the semifinals at the French Open, and the Gastein Ladies marked her first clay-court tournament since Roland Garros.
Despite the loss, Rogers enjoyed the best week of her young, professional career up to this point. She entered the tournament without ever picking up a top 50 win, and notched three (#16 Carla Suarez-Navarro, #40 Camila Giorgi and #14 Sara Errani) in this tournament alone.
“I had an incredible time,” said a reflective Rogers. “This is definitely been a week I will not forget.”
