Alison Riske stuns 8th seed Aravane Rezai to book quarterfinal place – AEGON Classic 2011
American tennis player Alison Riske stunned eighth seed Aravane Rezai 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-2 to advance into the quarterfinals of 2011 AEGON Classic in Birmingham.
Looking a bit rusty early on in the match, Riske displayed some high quality tennis in the second and third sets as she fittingly booked a place in the last eight of the Women’s Tennis Association tournament.
Resident of Hilton Head, Riske looked a bit out of sorts as the match started. She struggled to time the ball as number of her forehand and backhand winners landed outside the lines. Rezai grabbed opportunities with both hands
as she made the challenger pay heavily for her mistakes. Leading the game score 6-5, she had her third break point of the set. Converting it with a blazing serve ace, she pocketed the opener 7-5.
Looking to consolidate, Rezai made a strong start to the second set as well. Riske was also up on her feet as she dashed her amazing forehand and backhand winners all over the court. The contestants held on to their service games
as the set went into a tie-breaker. Showing no signs of nerves, the 105th ranked American clinched the tie-breaker 8-6 to force the match into a decider.
Short in confidence, Rezai failed to execute her strategy in the final set and leaked crucial points. On the other hand, Riske kept her head down and continued to pressurise her opponent with her extremely aggressive intent. Shielding
herself brilliantly, Riske saved certain brake points with her rock solid defence. Breaking the serve twice in the set, she raced to 5-2 lead, serving for the match.
Firing a couple of powerful serve aces, she setup three match points for her and then converted the first one to ensure her victory in a match that lasted for more than two hours and 26 minutes.
Riske’s serve was accurate and on-target most of the times as she fired 7 serve aces in the match. Hitting 66 per cent of her first serve, she took control of the rallies and then played in the clever drop shots to bamboozle her
opponent. Riske’s quarterfinal clash will be against Marina Erakovic who ousted Italian Sara Errani 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to reach that far.
Rezai had a good start to the match but she failed to handle the heat and hence paid the price. Converting only one out eleven break points in the match, the French wasted valuable opportunities. Making six double faults in the
match, she gifted points to her opponent. Her unforced errors played a big part in her defeat as she was unable to recover from them.
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