Riske Gives No. 2 Seed Zvonareva All She Can Handle at Wimbledon

Holding a pair of break points at 2-2 in the final set in her opening round match at Wimbledon against No. 2 seed and world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Peters Township’s Alison Riske looked poised to create arguably the biggest upset of the year in women’s tennis.

It was not to be. Showing the resolve that brought her to two Grand Slam finals last year, Zvonareva cut down on her unforced errors and Riske began to tighten up on her forehand. Reeling off the last three games of the match, the Russian advanced into the second round with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

“She has a game that’s perfect for grass,” said Zvonareva. “I haven’t really seen her play, only a little bit, so I didn’t know what to expect.”

Competing in the biggest match of her career in front of the largest crowd she’s ever played against, Riske appeared unsettled in the early stages of the match. Content to hit the ball flat and down the middle of the court, Riske’s shots sat up in Zvonareva’s strike zone as she wailed away for winners.

Hitting eight winners while making just two unforced errors, Zvonareva only faced one game point against her in the opening set. A backhand winner from the No. 2 seed wrapped up the opening set in just 25 minutes.

“Alison was hitting the ball well, but she needed to figure how to take a top player out of their game when hitting well alone wasn’t going to be enough,” said former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, while providing commentary in the booth during the match.

A strong approach from Riske on her fourth game point of the opening set finally got the Peters Township native on the scoreboard, and she let out a sheepish smile when the crowd loudly voiced their approval.

Attempting to shorten the rallies with timely trips to the net, Riske capitalized on the only break point opportunity she had in the second set to take a 4-2 lead. It was all she would need. Three games later, a forehand into the net from Zvonareva sent the match into a deciding set.

“When you start off as strongly as Vera did and lose one or two games, it’s definitely possible to start to panic,” said Davenport.

Both players traded routing service holds until 2-2 in the first set, when Riske had two break point opportunities on her serve. A passing shot winner from Zvonareva and an error of a forehand return from Riske erased them both, and the Russian quickly held for 3-2.

On serve at 3-4, Riske began to feel the pressure of possibly creating a monumental upset. Tightening up with her right arm, a double fault and a forehand error sent her down 0-40, and the Russian took her first opportunity to break point with a backhand down the line.

Serving for the match at 5-3, an ace from Zvonareva wrapped up the contest in just under two hours.

“She played some good tennis and I lost my concentration for a bit, but I was able to pick it up in the third set,” said Zvonareva.

Riske is currently ranked No. 118 in the world in the singles. She is scheduled to play a series of tournaments in the U.S. this summer that are part of the U.S. Open Series, leading into the U.S. Open Championships from Aug. 29-Sept. 11.

Read with Riske—and how she keeps her Peters roots intact.