American wildcard Shelby Rogers recorded her third career Top 10 win by upsetting worn-down top seed Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, 1-6 6-4 7-6(5).
The world No.116 Rogers wasn’t discouraged by the fact that she won just one game in the first set against a player with the best career winning percentage among active players when it comes to three-setters (164-62) and the fact that Williams had lost just four times to opponents ranked outside the Top 100 (and never in the last eight years).
The 27-year-old Rogers didn’t even face a break point in the last two sets, as the third three-setter in a row was one too many for Williams, who had recovered from a 4-6 4-4 (0-40) deficit to defeat fellow American Bernarda Pera in the opening round on Tuesday and then battled back from 4-2 down in the final set to beat sister Venus in the second round.
In her first WTA semifinal since 2016, Rogers will meet world No.63 Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.
