NEW YORK — On her very first day of the next chapter of her life, Shelby Rogers woke up to a text message from her sister: “Happy first day of retirement,” it read.
Rogers, 31, had officially finished her career at the US Open, and the message was the first moment in which her decision felt real. It was pouring rain outside of her home in Florida — she and her husband had flown back from New York following her final loss in mixed doubles the day before — and she wouldn’t have been able to go out to the practice court even if she wanted to.
But she didn’t go to the gym either, as she normally would. Instead they picked up their dogs, who had been boarding while they were away, and returned home to their new reality that still didn’t quite feel real.
“There’s always that few days where you can recover and take off [after a tournament],” Rogers told ESPN later that day. “So I feel like I’m still in that in-between period. But when my sister texted me, I was like, ‘Wait, what am I supposed to do? What does that even mean?’ I think the longer I go without practicing or playing a tournament, it’ll feel a little more realistic.
“But for now I’m excited. I’m happy.”
After 14 years on the tour, a career-high ranking of No. 30, two major quarterfinals appearances and a 2017 Billie Jean King Cup championship as part of the American team, Rogers had known for much of the season that 2024 would be her last. She had torn her meniscus during the grass season in 2023 and despite her best efforts to return to full health, a slew of other injuries followed. As the ongoing physical struggles continued to mount, her joy for the sport lessened. Being on the tennis court no longer felt the same.
She knew it was time.
But while some players announce their impending retirement or undergo a farewell tour, Rogers wanted none of that. As a self-described “very emotional person,” she knew having to formally say goodbye to every tournament she played would simply be too much. She decided the US Open would be her final event — the place where she recorded one of the biggest wins of her life in 2021 against then No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, and reached the 2020 quarterfinals. But she wasn’t even sure if she would share the news until after the tournament was over.
“I was honestly going back and forth debating whether I should just kind of quietly go by the wayside, but then I started to…
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