'Pure class': Fans melt over Ash Barty's graceful act after 'brutal' loss

Ash Barty admitted her shock loss to Shelby Rogers was a 'tough to swallow', but fans have quickly praised the World No.1 for her graceful gesture after the match.

The World No.1 entered the match as the strong favourite, but quickly fell behind after an uncharacteristically poor start.

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After bouncing back and grabbing the second set, Barty had two service games to close out the match.

However, her struggles serving for the win continued and Rogers broke twice to send the decider into a tiebreak.

And after a close tiebreak, Rogers was able to clinch the match 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 and advance to the fourth round.

Rogers immediately broke down into tears after claiming the biggest win of her career.

The Aussie was clearly gutted after letting a golden opportunity slip through her hands when she was so close.

However, in a show of class we have come to expect from the World No.1, Barty greeted the emotional American at the net with a big smile and a hug.

The pair shared some words, before stopping again and having a laugh.

"C'mon, look at Ash. How smooth," the commentator said in praise of Barty's sportsmanship.

Fans were quick to praise Barty for always showing her champion spirit in both victory and defeat.

Rogers opened up about their chat and said she has a huge amount of respect for Barty.

“She is one of the most professional people I’ve ever met in my life, as well as a good person, a funny individual,” Rogers said in her post match interview.

“Just refreshing to see. She’s super down-to-earth. I mean, she is one of my favourite people.

“I was joking before, every time I lost to her, I can’t be mad because she’s such a nice person. It’s like ‘man, she just kicked my butt’. Then it’s like ‘oh, you’re going to find it one day’.

"She's always encouraging to everybody around her. She brings up the energy wherever she goes. I can’t say how much respect I have for her and what a great representative she is for women’s tennis.”

Ash Barty reacts after shock US Open loss

Despite falling short of expectations in New York, Barty remained upbeat after her Grand Slam endeavours for 2021 came to an end.

Barty has been on the road overseas since the clay-court campaign, due to Australia's strict border security rules making it hard for her to return.

However, she remained ready to dedicate herself to the next chapter of her burgeoning tennis career.

"It's never nice when you have a couple opportunities to serve out the match and can't get it done," she said in her post-match press conference.

"But, it's brutal, it's a tough one to swallow...it's disappointing but we'll move on."

She then saved special praise for her opponent after she claimed the conditions of the court were 'slow on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"Credit to Shelby, she was able to adjust to those conditions a lot quicker than I did," she added.

"I played a pretty awful first set, in a sense, where I was erratic. But I found a way to turn the match back in my favour.

"To have two opportunities to serve it out, it's disappointing not to get it done."

The World No.1 finished with some special praise for the American.

"It sucks in tennis that there's a winner and loser every single day, but sometimes you don't mind losing to certain people," she said.

"I think Shelby in a sense of her personality and her character, she's certainly one of those for me.”

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