“There’s no real moment where you’re 100 percent sure you’re ready to play again. You just kind of have to jump back in and go for it.”

Shelby Rogers joins Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi on the TENNIS.com Podcast this week. The American is ready for her return to the tour at her hometown event, the Volvo Car Open in Charleston. The former world No. 48 has been out for just over a year after undergoing left knee surgery, and explains the ordeal she went through and how the new protected ranking rules are helping her (02:53). She was ranked No. 78 when she played her last match in the first round of Indian Wells in 2018.

Time away from the tour hasn't been all bad though as the 26-year-old got to live a normal life and embraced online school with Indiana University East (06:23). While she was injured, Rogers also tried her hand at working for the Tennis Channel as a commentator, interviewer and host (08:04). 

It’s Rogers’ first significant injury, so she shares what she learned and what goes into plotting a comeback schedule, which may include a return to Roland Garros (14:31).

We take a break from the serious stuff to dig up her falsely edited Wikipedia page from years ago which claimed she lost several toes in a car accident and credited power lifting for her comeback (17:33).

Back to business—she explains how her life changed after she reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 2016, including entry into the Elite 8 Club (19:41). And now that she’s had experience working in working for media, she tells us how her perspective has changed (21:36).