Jan 15, 2015 2 min read

Alison Riske of McMurray is the only seed remaining among the final four at the WTA Tour’s Hobart International, which is a tuneup for the Australian Open tennis tournament that begins next week.

Riske, who is ranked No. 42 in the world and the eighth seed in this tournament, easily defeated second seed Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-0 in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Riske will meet top-ranked Briton Heather Watson, who has not dropped a set during the first five days. She beat Roberta Vinci 7-6, 6-2 in the round of eight.

Riske and Watson know each other well and have played doubles together as recently as September.

In the other half of the draw, American qualifier Madison Brengle takes on Japan’s Kurumi Nara for a place in Saturday’s final.

First-round pairings for the Australian Open were released Thursday and Riske has drawn Oceane Dodin of France. Dodin is ranked No. 183 in the world. The Riske-Dodin winner will face No. 22 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or a qualifier in the second round.

Riske, 24, will make her fourth appearance in the Australian Open. She is coming off her most successful year as a professional. She advanced to the third round of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year, the second round of the French Open and lost in the opening round of the U.S. Open.

Riske also did well in doubles play last season, advancing to the third round in both the Australian and French opens, and to the second round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open along with partner Coco Vandeweghe. The draw for the Australian Open doubles tournament will be announced next week.