Now healthy, Rogers eyes deep run in Red Rock Pro Open

It hasn't been Shelby Rogers' best year on the tennis court. But the 22-year-old from South Carolina still can salvage what has been a disappointing 2015 with a win this week at the $50,000 Red Rock Pro Open.

Rogers suffered an injury to her right knee right before Wimbledon, and it took her most of the summer to restore her game after it was discovered she had a partially torn medial collateral ligament. But she made a strong run at the U.S. Open, winning her first two matches after qualifying before losing to second-seeded Simona Halep.

Rogers is ranked No. 157 in the world in the WTA computer and will be seeded No. 7 in Las Vegas. She will play Great Britain's Lisa Whybourn at 11 a.m. today on Court 5 in her first match.

"I'm looking forward to finishing on a high note," Rogers said. "I've been working on a lot of things, and I think my game's coming around."

She said with her knee no longer an issue and her play at Flushing Meadows boosting her confidence, she thinks she can be a factor at Red Rock Country Club, where the winner of Sunday's championship will get $7,600. Belgium's An-Sophie Mestach is the No. 1 seed.

Rogers has played well in Las Vegas. In 2012, she made the final of the Party Rock Open at Darling Tennis Center before losing to Lauren Davis in three sets.

"Usually, I come to Vegas right from Albuquerque, where there's some altitude, which I think helps me adjust," Rogers said. "This year, I stayed in L.A. and didn't go to Albuquerque so I could work on my game. We'll see if that helps or not, but I enjoy the Vegas stop. The people there are very nice, and the tournament is well run."

Rogers said she will never forget the feeling of being at Arthur Ashe Stadium with the world's No. 2 player across the net.

"It was an amazing atmosphere, having the crowd pull for me, and I just tried to enjoy myself," she said. "I played well. I was relaxed, and I had a better draw than I usually get, so I tried to take advantage of it."

In her final qualifier, Rogers lost the first set 6-1 to Alia Kudryavetseva of Russia, then rallied to win the next two sets 6-2 and 6-4 to gain her spot in the U.S. Open main draw.

"For some reason, I started really slow and made a lot of unforced errors," Rogers said. "But after that first set, I figured it couldn't get any worse, and I just wanted to play each point and make her earn it."

She has played once since the U.S. Open, losing in the first round at Quebec City on Sept. 14. It was the 15th time in 22 events this year that Rogers lost in the first round.

But she doesn't expect that trend to continue today, as Las Vegas hosts a pro women's tennis event for the ninth consecutive year. She said her game is in good shape.

"If you get hot, you can win it," she said.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj