NEW YORK — Shelby Rogers has been around the tennis tour long enough to know the routine after a big win — and, sadly, what awaits after an ugly loss.
When Sloane Stephens last week shared some of the threatening and vulgar messages she had received on social media after she was knocked out of the U.S. Open, it was shocking to some. But it wasn’t a surprise to Rogers, who said she was going to have “9 million death threats and whatnot” waiting for her on her phone after her surprise run to the round of 16 ended with a disappointing 6-2, 6-1 loss on Monday to British teenager Emma Raducanu.
“I kind of wish social media didn't exist, but here we are,” Rogers said. “It's a big part of marketing now. We have contracts, we have to post certain things. I don't know, you could probably go through my profile right now, I'm probably a fat pig and, you know, words that I can't say right now. But, I mean, it is what it is. You try not to take it to heart, and it's the unfortunate side of any sport and what we do.”
Rogers was trying to take the positive view of her experience at the U.S. Open, which included a remarkable come-from-behind win Saturday over No. 1 seed Ash Barty in the third round. But admittedly, it was hard for Rogers to accept how poorly she played against Raducanu, making 29 unforced errors and at one point losing 11 games in a row.
“That was pretty embarrassing,” said Rogers, a native of Charleston, S.C., who was hoping to make the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the...
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