Riske routed in stunner at U.S. Open
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FLUSHING, N.Y. – Alison Riske’s run at the U.S. Open ended in stunning fashion in the second round Wednesday afternoon.
Ann Li, who is ranked 128th in the world, upset 13th-seeded Riske 6-0, 6-3 in a matchup between two players from Pennsylvania.
The 20-year-old Li, who is from King of Prussia, now has two career victories over players ranked in the top 75, and the wins have come in her two matches this week.
The 30-year-old Riske, a McMurray native, is ranked No. 20 in the world. She had won the only previous matchup with Li.
Such data would suggest an advantage for Riske, but Li dominated from start.
“I feel great right now, I can’t really say anything else,” Li said. “I was ready for a battle. I think I’ve improved a lot so I was ready for a fun match.”
Li had an excellent game plan against Riske and executed it to perfection.
“She hits a fast deep ball so I think just getting ready for that,” Li said of her strategy. “And staying super calm with my body and trying to neutralize the shots. (I tried) to mix up the heights and speeds of the ball, and also stay aggressive at the same time.”
Riske wasn’t the only upset victime Wednesday. Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up, made her mood clear during a 6-1, 7-6 (2) loss to 50th-ranked Caroline Garcia by breaking a racket, then again afterward with a series of clipped responses at her news conference.
Pliskova fidgeted with the microphone. Sighed. Rolled her eyes.
When a reporter offered possible explanations for the defeat – a new faster surface on the courts, a lack of atmosphere because there are no spectators, the pressure of her high seeding – Pliskova replied: “Nothing from what you said.”
Her reasoning for the result? “I didn’t play good,” Pliksova said, “so that’s it.”
Shelby Rogers, an American ranked 93rd, beat 11th-seeded Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-1.
Other seeded women who were eliminated: No. 12 Marketa Vondrousova, No. 30 Kristina Mladenovic, No. 31 Anastasija Sevastova.
Mladenovic’s loss was the wildest of them all. She led 6-1, 5-1, then later held four match points, but never was able to finish and ended up on the wrong end of a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0 result against 102nd-ranked Varvara Gracheva.