Robin Montgomery needed to get her act together. She had lost five of the first six games against Shelby Rogers in her first match at the DC Open on Monday and was in danger of disappointing her hometown crowd at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.
Then came an opportunity on a floater and Montgomery pounced, ripping a winner that, with one stroke, seemed to change the match’s momentum.
Montgomery went on to win that game and the five that followed, overcoming the slow start for a 7-5, 6-3 first-round win that sends her into the second round against No. 4 seed Ons Jabeur.
“Being down in your hometown never feels good,” said Montgomery, a D.C. native who graduated from Friendship Public Charter School and turned pro in 2019. “… At that point I was like: ‘[Expletive] this; go for it. I got nothing else to lose, really.’”
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Montgomery, one of two local wild cards along with 18-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, who plays her first match Tuesday, made her debut in the main draw of the DC Open. She came in with an impressive résumé, having swept the U.S. Open girls’ singles and doubles junior titles in 2021.
Jabeur, who beat Montgomery in the second round at Wimbledon, said Saturday that the 19-year-old “has the game to become a top-10 player” — a sentiment shared by Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament’s top seed. Montgomery took a set off Sabalenka this year in Madrid during the clay-court season.
Monday’s match was a slog. Montgomery double-faulted six times in the first set as Rogers started fast, delivering four aces. But as the outing progressed, the left-hander found her groove, punctuating many of her points with a fist pump. Montgomery once said she approaches each match like a puzzle. Today’s answer?
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“Focusing completely on myself, honestly. [Rogers] is a great player, I know that, but sometimes we start overthinking who our opponent is,” she said.
Rogers offered an imposing test. The 31-year-old has 307 career wins and has been ranked as high as No. 30 (in 2022). The public address announcer noted her accomplishments — she has won more than $5.5 million in her career and has been to four Grand Slam quarterfinals (two in singles and two in doubles).
“They went down her list of all the Slams, and I was like, ‘Crap,’” Montgomery said.
She forced herself to refocus on her hitting rather than her foe’s accolades. The alum of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park is close with Frances Tiafoe, another JTCC alum and a player known to get the crowd involved.
Montgomery once said Tiafoe encouraged her to celebrate after wins and be more emotional on the court. She remained mostly reserved during Monday’s match, but when she sealed the victory, she let out a modest celebration, raising her hands into the air.
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“A lot,” she said when asked in an on-court interview how much the crowd helped. “… I’m glad I made it to the second round so they can all come out and watch again.”
DC Open notes
Several other Americans were in action Monday, including Ben Shelton, who received a first-round bye in singles but took the court with Croatian Ivan Dodig in doubles. They were beaten, 6-3, 7-5, by Henry Patten of Britain and Harri Heliovaara of Finland.
In singles, Shelton, the No. 14 player in the world, will face the winner of the match between Moldova’s Radu Albot and Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta.
Some duos in the DC Open field are making history by wearing microphones during matches. While he thinks it’s a good idea, Shelton will not be one of them.
“I like my career,” he said, smiling. “I’m not saying that I say crazy stuff on the court. I can be a wild card at times. I don’t say things out loud, but when the mic is right there, anything can happen. I’m going to keep those thoughts and under-the-breath sayings to myself.”
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The 21-year-old American skipped the Olympics, instead using the time to prepare for the U.S. Open.
Shelton made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon but lost in his first match at his most recent tournament, the Atlanta Open. He said those results don’t increase any pressure to perform in D.C.
“Tennis is just one of those sports that you’re not going to have a perfect week every week,” he said. “… I guess you could say that I put importance on every week I play in the calendar.” ...
Two former U.S. Open champions played Monday night: 2021 champion Emma Raducanu took down No. 8 seed Elise Mertens, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; but Sloane Stephens, the 2017 winner at Flushing Meadows, lost to qualifier Amanda Anisimova, 6-3, 7-5.
