2012 @CitiOpen Interview: Alison Riske
2012 @CitiOpen Interview: Alison Riske
By Steve Fogleman, TennisEastCoast.com
Alison Riske was the first official interview subject of this blog, way back in College Park, Maryland last July. She remains a Tennis East Coast favorite. I wasn’t going to miss a chance to catch up with her, even after she lost in three sets on Saturday to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia. Just seconds after the match, she agreed to an impromptu interview during stretches. I’m used to interviewing players an hour or more after the match. The delay gives players the time to cool down physically and mentally. In qualifying, it’s more of a Wild West out there. The players can agree to meet you anywhere, anytime. I bring this up because I thought it was too early to get into the gruesome match details, so they were not addressed. She’s too nice to be bogged down with all that talk about second and third set unforced errors.
Last year, you were living in Hilton Head, South carolina. You’ve moved.
I’m down in Boca now with Sam Crawford, Madison Keys, Shelby Rogers, Chalena Scholl, Chi Chi’s sister. They are a good group of girls there.
What changes have you noticed about being in Boca rather than South Carolina?
I was so used to traveling with my sister, and always having a family member around, but everyone is really friendly. I room with Shelby Rogers. I roomed with Melanie Oudin before she left to train in New York.
Riske and Oudin
Have you taught Shelby a thing or two?
Shelby’s going to be teaching me a thing or two! She’s doing so well. I was in Charleston at Family Circle Cup cheering her on.
Are you two the pride of South Carolina then?
I’m from Pittsburgh.
I know.
I went home for Christmas. We did have snow while I was there.
Still loving those Steelers?
I’m still a Steelers fan and I’m so sad Heinz (Ward) left us!
What’s next up for the summer?
I think I’m going to play the 50 in the Bronx and we’ll see if I get in Cincinnati and then qualies at the US Open.
2012 #CitiOpen Day 2 Recap
JULY 28–A robust crowd at CitiOpen was treated to a long day of compelling three set matches and the inauguration of the new Grandstand Court. Robert Farah won the first match on the new court over racquet-abusing Paul Capdeville 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Later, on ‘Grandstand 1′, veteran Jesse Levine ended the ATP CitiOpen bid for Michigan’s Evan King 4 and 4.
The Univeristy of Virginia faithful invaded the stands shortly afterwards and were punished for their flash mobbery, watching in horror as Cavalier Mitchell Frank lost a nail-biting three setter to Michael Berrer and fellow Wahoo Jarmere Jenkins was narrowly defeated in two.
Michigan’s Evan King
Veteran Robby Ginepri won in retirement over Wayne Odesnik, Florent Serra defeated Ricardo Mello, Marco Chiudenelli took out Tim Smyczek in three, Michael Russell, who is seemingly at every single ATP event, sometimes simultaneously, perservered past Mischa Zverev in full sets.
Cepelova was first to qualify
Michelle Larcher de Brito is second to qualify
Today was the final qualifying round for the WTA and Jana Cepelova, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Jennifer Elie and Aravane Rezai won their way into the main draw. The most intriguing womens match up was the one I sat through, naturally. It pitted 3 seed Jana Cepelova against 5 seed Alison Riske. The match swung back and forth, with Cepelova patiently waiting for errors by Riske. In the end, Cepelova’s patience paid off as Riske was uncharacteristically error prone today.
Tomorrow, fans will see main draw WTA play and final qualifying for the men.
–S. Fogleman
2012 @CitiOpen Day 1 Recap, WTA Saturday Order of Play, Men’s Draw
Michelle Larcher de Brito
In an unadvertised day of tennis in Washington, the Mens main draw and Womens main draw were released and chosen at the CitiOpen draw ceremony this afternoon. James Blake and Vania King joined Zina Garrison in starting the proceedings.
Alison Riske
Arevane Rezai
In womens qualifying, eight women moved on to tomorrow’s final round. Alison Riske defeated Lena Litvak 7-6(4), 6-4, Jennifer Elie advanced over Simone Kalhorn 6-2, 6-1, Lauren Davis beat Tori Kinard 6-4, 6-2 and Jana Cepelova won the only three setter of the day 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 over Alexandra Mueller. In the later matches, Michelle Larcher de Brito overwhelmed Alessondra Parra 6-0, 6-3 while Gabriela Paz whisked by Alexandra Kiick 7-5, 6-3, and Chieh-Yu Hsu knocked out Tamaryn Hendler 6-2, 6-3. Boca Raton’s Tornado Alicia Black lost in her WTA debut 6-1, 6-2 today and was outmatched by #1 seeded French veteran Aravane Rezai. I look forward to seeing Black play again soon.
Jennifer Elie
Blake and young DC fans
Tomorrow, the women are sequestered to Grandstand 2, which is the original Grandstand and the court which offers the most shaded seats on the premises. Nice draw. Alison Riske and Jana Cepolova will get things started at 10:00 a.m., followed by Michelle Larcher de Brito and Gabriela Paz. After that, Lauren Davis and Jennifer Elie battle for a main draw entry, followed by Aravane Rezai and Chieh-Yu Hsu.
The Mens Order of Play and the qualifying draw remain mysteries.
–S. Fogleman
Tornado Ali Black’s First WTA Coin Toss
American Men Advance in French Qualifying
Dangerous Denis Kudla
Denis Kudla, Michael Russell, Jesse Levine, Bobby Reynolds and Alex Kuznetsov advanced to the second round of qualifying at Roland Garros today. Kudla needed three sets to dispatch 29 seed James Ward of Great Britain, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Reynolds also won a three-setter in convincing fashion over KazakhYuri Schukin, 6-0, 6-7 (1), 6-2. Levine won 2 and 2 against France’s Julien Obry. Michael Russell perservered in a very tight 4, 6 and 7 win from German Simon Greul, while Kuznetsov eked it out over fellow American Michael Yani, 7-6(3), 7-5.
The American men will mostly have an off day tomorrow. The exception is Michael Russell, who will take the court for a second round match not before 3:00 p.m.
Eight American women are scheduled for tomorrow’s first round qualifying. Coco Vandeweghe, Madison Brengle, Alexa Glatch, Alison Riske, Lauren Davis, Julia Cohen, Jill Craybas and Gail Brodsky will begin their quest for main draw berths tomorrow. Craybas and Brodsky will meet on Court 16, where only one American will advance from the match.
Atlanta’s Wild Card Super Friends: Hampton, Riske join Keys in AO Main Draw #AusOpen #USTA
One...
Two..
Last month in Atlanta, eight women competed for a Main Draw Wild Card for the Australian Open. It turns out that three of those competitors will be in the Big Kangaroo Dance after all. Jamie Hampton and Alison Riske both advanced in straight sets yesterday in final qualifying rounds at Melbourne Park.
Three!
Up next for Hampton will be Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Riske will face Urszula Radwanska for starters. Madison Keys will open against Zie Jheng.
Other first-round American women’s matches include Christina McHale taking on Lucie Safarova, Irina Falconi against Alberta Brianti, Betthanie Mattek-Sands against Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena vs. Tamira Paszek, Sloane Stephens against Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Vavs Lepchenko starts against Daniela Hantuchova and Vania King will meet Kateryna Bondarenko.
Falconi and Hampton should definitely be in a position to advance, so Atlanta should have more than one reason to celebrate.
Memory Lane: Rando Photos from Racquet Club of the South #USTA
Here’s ten more shots from this month’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs in Norcross, Georgia. Until a Tumblr account is opened, there is where the photos will come to rest. And Happy New Year, y’all. Thanks for visiting the site in 2011, and special thanks to experienced bloggers and USTA reps for offering advice. Let’s bump into each other next year. See you in Charleston, Newport, DC, Atlanta, NYC, Charlottesville and Knoxville?
Nobody is more comfortable on a court than Rhyno.
Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs: Day 1 Women’s Recap
Top seeds Coco Vandeweghe and Alison Riske won with relative ease today, while Madison Keys upset world #141 Jamie Hampton and Gail Brodsky knocked out local favorite Melanie Oudin at the Racquet Club of the South in Norcross, Georgia in Australian Open Wild Card Playoff Quarterfinals matches.
She's back!
Keys, who was also the #6 seed en route to winning the US Open Wild Card Playoffs in College Park, Maryland over the summer, struggled in the first before edging Hampton 3-6, 6-4, 9-7. That’s 9 games to 7, as no tiebreak is played and the matches are considered Grand Slam qualifiers. Vandeweghe recorded 5 aces in a row en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win over upstart Taylor Townsend. Brooklyn’s Gail Brodsky outlasted Melanie Oudin 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, finishing Oudin’s mediocre season on a sour note. Second seeded Alison Riske had the easiest match of the day by far in double bageling Grace Min.
Taylor Townsend was gracious in defeat and her attitude will win her support going forward. She claimed that she had not even read the USA Today article about her.
Attendance was impressive, especially for an opening round. The sea of fans was in stark contrast to the College Park event, making one wonder if Atlanta might indeed be America’s tennis town. There were unconfirmed reports that tickets are almost sold out for the remainder of the weekend. With the exit of Oudin, Hampton, Townsend and Min, no women with connections to Georgia or Racquet Club of the South are left in the event. Speaking of Georgia connections, Irina Falconi was everywhere today. She stayed for every match and must have posed for 500 photographs with fans. She took a little time to hit when there was a break in the action. It was a perfect chance to test the slow motion video option on the camera. It’s dark. Not Edgar Allen Poe or Morrissey dark, but it should be more interesting during outdoor court season.
Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs: OOP Saturday, December 17, 2011
Stadium (7) |
Court 2 |
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1st Match |
2:00 PMVANDEWEGHE, CoCo (1)vs. BRODSKY, Gail (5) |
1:00 PMRISKE, Alison (2) vs. KEYS, Madison (6) |
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2nd Match |
Not Before 3:00 PMGINEPRI, Robby (4) vs. Williams, Rhyne (8) |
Not Before 2:00 PMKUDLA, Dennis (3) vs. LEVINE, Jesse (2) |
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Australian Open Wild Card Draw (Norcross, GA December 16-18, 2011)
| 1. Bobby Reynolds (127) | ||||||||
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| 8. Rhyne Williams (511) | | |
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| 4. Robby Ginepri (318) | | |
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| 5. Steve Johnson (369) | | |
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| 3. Denis Kudla (275) | | |
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| 6. Jack Sock (380) | | |
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| 2. Jesse Levine (164) | | |
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| 7. Daniel Kosakowski (410) | | |
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| 1. CoCo Vandeweghe (127) | ||||||||
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| 8. Taylor Townsend (432) | | |
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| 4. Melanie Oudin (164) | | |
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| 5. Gail Brodsky (227) | | |
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| 3. Jamie Hampton (141) | | |
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| 6. Madison Keys (270) | | |
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| 2. Alison Riske (135) | | |
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| 7. Grace Min (352) | | |
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