Riske given early exit at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia – Alison Riske’s stay in the Australian Open lasted less than three hours, even with a rain delay.
Riske, a McMurray native, had a strong start to her opening round match Monday against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium but lost the second set in a tiebreaker and was ousted after losing a delayed third set.
Flipkens defeated Riske 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 in a matchup of unseeded players.
Riske breezed through the first set and was leading 6-5 in the second set when Flipkens began her comeback, forcing a tiebreaker. Riske fell behind 6-3 in the tiebreaker but battled back to pull even at 6-6 before losing the final two points.
Flipkens led 3-1 in the third set when the match was delayed 18 minutes because of rain.
Riske advanced to the third round of the Australian last year.