But in the first set Barty missed plenty of balls-- and not just on her serve,where she doubled faulted four times in one game. Rogers had told herself,“I didn’t want to lose the same way I lost the last five times,” so she stayed more patient with Barty’s backhand slice and tried hitting deep and heavy shots to Barty’s forehand that would kick up to at least her shoulder.

When Barty would take an aggressive swing in the first set,she’d frequently miss badly. When she did connect,Rogers handled her pace with aplomb. The set was over in 32 disheartening minutes.

But in the second set everything changed.

“I tried to turn it physical,to run myself into the ground to find the feeling through pure volume,” Barty said.

“That confused Shelby a little bit.”

Rogers fell back to earth and Barty began nailing those high forehands;she mixed in her two-handed backhand more often which made her slice backhand more effective. It all began taking its toll on Rogers,who gradually seemed to become slower getting to each ball as Barty moved her corner to corner for the next set and a half. Barty only double faulted once in the second set and won 28 of 44 points. (She had won just 16 in the first set.)

In the first three rounds of the tournament,Barty had played in three of the five longest rallies,once for each match (she and Rogers they reached 23 points,and had 34 rallies of nine or more shots);it is a tribute to the diversity of her skills that she can win with patience and with power.

But in the first game of the second set,Rogers started really looping her forehands in an attempt to slow Barty down.

“I was really proud of myself for problem-solving,and doing things I’m not really comfortable with,like hitting some high balls like I’m back in the 12s,playing defence,” she said.

For a long time it did no good-- Barty would match her,moonball for moonball,or she’d charge in for a swinging volley or she’d change the trajectory with a slice backhand or hard forehand. Rogers’ grunts seemed to include a sigh inside each one,while Barty was moving effortlessly.

At 3-2 Barty looked in full control,ending her service game with back-to-back aces. But in the end,when Barty got tight with the match on the line,those moonballs proved the deciding factor.

Barty had a 5-2 lead and Rogers admitted she briefly thought “Good try,here we go again.“. She brushed that away and after Barty double faulted,the crowd helped her find resolve.

“The crowd has been nuts this week. I’m partially deaf after tonight,” she said. “I just tried to stay in the present.”

Barty played tentatively,netting a forehand and giving the game away.

“That game put some oxygen back in her lungs,” Barty said.

The crowd was loudly imploring Rogers to keep fighting and after she held to make it 5-4,they were on their feet,yelling and screaming.

With Barty serving for the match again,she was up 15-0 and in a 10-shot rally hit a drop shot but was slow coming in behind it. Rogers,with a second wind at her back,charged in and dropped the ball back across court;Barty missed the chance for the winner and suddenly it was 15-15 instead of 30-0.

Two points later,after handling numerous floaters from Rogers,Barty took a big rip at a forehand and missed. 30-30. Still,at least she was playing to win,not playing tight-- on the next point she served and then hit a decent slice approach but Rogers lifted a perfect lob to win the point.

“She came up with really good stuff and on a shot like that you just have to your hat and say,‘Too good’.”

Barty fought back to deuce,but the high arcing shots wore her down and Rogers got the break for 5-5,to the delight of the delirious crowd.

Both players pushed each other in their next service games but each held on to send the match to a tiebreaker,thrilling the cheering fans. The first three points were uneventful but the fourth was a turning point,a 20-shot rally that Rogers kept alive with a great defensive lob and seized control of with a big backhand. Barty’s best chance at a mini-break vanished.

At 4-4,the match finally turned one last time in Rogers’ favor-- on the 16th shot of the rally,Barty changed her mind about hitting another slice backhand,stepped around to hit a forehand approach but drilled it into the net cord and it lifted over and sailed deep. In the end she hit a couple of loose forehands to drop the final two points and fall 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

“It was a tough one to swallow,” Barty says. “It’s never nice when you have a couple of opportunities to serve it out but in the end I just didn’t have enough in the tank. I got three or four forehands I wanted and wasn’t able to take advantage,but I did set those points up well,so it’s not a match I’ll dwell on for too long.”

In the end,Barty,who has not been able to return home since early in the year,maintained her famous equanimity.

“The last six months have been a roller coaster but you can’t win every match you play,” she said. “I’m looking forward to celebrating the good stuff we’ve done and learning from the hurt.”

As excited as Rogers was to have won she devoted much of her press conference to talking highly of Barty,even running through Barty’s accomplishments in 2021.

“I can’t say enough how much respect I have for her and what she has done for women’s tennis,” Rogers said. “She’s everything every player wants to be and she’s one of my favourite people.”