Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) tennis player Olivia Rogowska went close to creating history, coming just short of beating world number one Dinara Safina in the first round of the US Open Grand Slam on 2 September at Flushing Meadows, New York.

The world number one Dinara Safina has never been defeated in the first round of a US Open, let alone by a lowly-ranked wild card. Yet the 18-year-old Olivia Rogowska played well above her ranking of 167, gaining a huge lead on Safina’s serve — 3–0 and then 15–40 — in the third and deciding set of the match. But Safina hit back like a champion, breaking Rogowska’s serves, which fell apart in the third set. Rogowska managed to gain a 4–2 lead in the final set but, under increasing pressure, went on to serve 12 double faults and lost the match to Safina, 6–7(5), 6–2, 6–4.

Head coach of the AIS women’s tennis program Chris Johnstone said Rogowska will have gained valuable experience from her match with Safina.

‘She’s shown something that lots of players never have: that she can compete with the world’s number one tennis player. But she’s 18 years of age. So she’s still got a lot to work on. She’s still a bit raw.’

Rogowska will return to Australia to improve her game in a number of ITF women’s circuit events.

‘It will be quite a come down from playing the world number one at the US Open to playing in the boondocks in Darwin, but she needs to learn how to cope with the pressures of beating players she should beat,’ Johnstone said.

The AIS Tennis program works with Tennis Australia in supporting the ongoing training and development of the nation’s best young tennis talent. It provides a development pathway for Australian tennis talent to gain valuable experience in international competition.