Riske puts on late show at U.S. Open
FLUSHING, N.Y. – Playing at night in the U.S. Open, and against Tatjana Maria of Germany, brought out the best in Alison Riske.
A McMurray native, Riske won her opening round match at the U.S. Open when she steamrolled Maria 6-3, 6-2 late Monday night.
It was the final match of the opening day of play on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court. The 13th-seeded Riske had a long wait to get on the court because of a five-set men’s match before her contest and she didn’t put the finishing touches on her sixth consecutive victory over Maria until about midnight.
“I’m thrilled to get through and looking forward to the next round,” Riske said on court after the match.
Riske will play 20-year-old unseeded American Ann Li in the second round. It’s a much friendlier draw for Riske than she has encountered in the past.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life to be a seed so I don’t have to play someone top 5 in the first round,” Riske said. “It is so welcome.”
Riske dominated the unseeded Maria from start to finish, producing 36 winners, breaking serve five times and winning 22 of 29 points at the net. Riske won the first set and bolted to a 3-0 lead in the second set. After Maria closed to within 3-2, Riske won the final three games and the match.
“Being at the U.S. Open you hope you get a night match because that kind of epitomizes the U.S. Open,” she said. “I had my opportunity. I finished it out in style – midnight.”
On Tuesday, playing his first Grand Slam match in nearly 20 months, toiling on his metal hip for 4 hours, 39 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Andy Murray put together his 10th career comeback from two sets down and beat Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4. He next plays 15th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 20-year-old from Canada.
The Murray match provided the most entertainment in the afternoon of Day 2 at Flushing Meadows, when later matches were scheduled to feature past women’s champions Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters, along with 2019 men’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev.
Dominic Thiem, a three-time major runner-up, and Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion but never in New York, advanced earlier, as did reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, No. 9 seed Johanna Konta and No. 16 Elise Mertens.