Irina Falconi eases past Alison Riske into second round – Bell Challenge 2011
In the all-American affair that followed in the opening round of the Bell Challenge on Monday, the seventh seeded Irina Falconi stood victorious against the unseeded fellow compatriot, Alison Riske, in a one-sided matchup.
The contest was played on the indoor hard courts of Quebec, Canada, with the 74th ranked American registering a straight sets victory at 6-3, 6-3, to make it to the second round of the $220,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)
tournament.
Currently rate at number 118 in world rankings, Riske hung in the contest for just one hour and twenty five minutes before surrendering in the second set to let the fellow American take away a comprehensive victory.
It was the 32nd victory for Falconi in the running year, with 23 losses to her name already. The American finally avenged her defeat from Riske, who defeated her in their last meeting in Bayamon in 2009, in straight
sets 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 16 of the tournament. Falconi’s victory broke her into a 2-1 lead in her head-to-head lead against Riske in singles encounters and pushed her one step closer to the quarter-final round of the Bell Challenge.
The contest was totally dominated by the accurate power hitting of Falconi, who absolutely gave no chance to her opponent to get settled in the matchup. She was further assisted by the error-ridden game of Riske, whose most stroked
landed long and wide of the court, including seven costly double faults as well.
The opener was stuffed with high quality tennis action from both contestants and exchanges of cracking serve breaks. Falconi registered a total of three serve breaks in the opening set and Riske replied with two to drop the first
set at 3-6. The seventh seed American continued with her winning momentum in the following set as well and broke early to lead 4-2 in the game. Falconi wound up victory with her fifth break point conversion of the day at 6-3, advancing to the second round
of the tournament. She will take on either Marina Erakovic of Australia or Caroline Garcia of France in the second round.
Tags: