
It seems like Ashleigh Barty enjoys playing Shelby Rogers, as she recorded her fourth consecutive victory over the American in her opening round match at the 2021 Madrid Open.
The top seed needed just an hour to record a 6-2 6-1 victory, and has now beaten the World No.43 in four straight meetings this year, dating back to the Yarra Valley Classic in February.
"I've played Shelby many times this year... and it's always a very big challenge," Barty said in her post-match interview. "I needed to make sure that I was at my very best to be able to compete today."
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Their most recent clash occurred in Charleston, where the World No.1 required nearly two-and-a-half hours to battle past Rogers. However, she made quick work of Rogers on Thursday, extending her winning streak on European clay to twelve straight matches.
"Each one is different," reflected Barty. "Each one presents different challenges, different conditions. The rate that we're going, we'll play every month this year, just make it a tradition. We play each other once a month."
"Every time you step out on the court against Shelby, you really need to be switched on, play your very best because she has the ability to take the match away from you very quickly. It was important for me to start well, across the whole match. It was always going to be a big factor."
The recent Stuttgart champion next faces Tamara Zidansek in the second round, as the Slovenian cruised past Hsieh Su-Wei in her first round match.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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