{"id":2686,"date":"2017-06-12T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2017-06-12T09:11:46","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T13:11:46","slug":"alison-riske-grass-nottingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2017\/06\/12\/alison-riske-grass-nottingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Alison Riske: &#8220;I Can Step on the Grass and Everything Kind of Falls Into Place&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>French Open<\/strong> is over which can mean only one thing. The grass court season has arrived. For players like <strong>Alison Riske<\/strong>, this signals the start of a short but vital part of the season where points and tournaments come thick and fast.<\/p>\n<p>The destination pencilled into the American&#8217;s calendar every year is <strong>Nottingham<\/strong>. She has travelled to the city for the eighth consecutive year and is seeking to go one better than last year&#8217;s runner-up spot.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I can just step on the grass and everything kind of falls into place.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/539572474\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 52.020202% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/539572474?et=daasIV7WR5NhNCKWY4HyqA&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=EdOZlcoxCtfuVcRbm7u5cgQ8F2wzAJSDmcv5XvYxul8=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"309\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>In 2016 she fell victim to the big-serving <strong>Karolina Pliskova<\/strong>, losing 7-6(8) 7-5 in the final. Regardless of last year&#8217;s result, her fondness for the venue means that confidence is sky high once again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been here first when it was a $50k and I always enjoy playing here. Obviously its on grass which I always enjoy so its a good week for me&#8221;, Riske explained.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a funny thing because I feel like I can just step on the grass and everything kind of falls into place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;One of my best clay court seasons&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/686767198\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/686767198?et=6MEHuNCPQ9pjR8V2cn7qYw&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=6Vu8ZTSaAwNNl_SulFKNt3M359O1mXLUPj424uWHZN4=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>The 26 year old comes into the tournament in respectable form, after posting her most successful clay court season to date. The American won consecutive matches on clay on the <strong>WTA Tour<\/strong> for the first time in her career after back-to-back wins over <strong>Elise Mertens<\/strong> and <strong>Kirsten Flipkens<\/strong> in <strong>Nurnberger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was probably one of my best clay court seasons ever&#8221;, Riske declared proudly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I won a few matches which was great and <strong>Roland Garros<\/strong> obviously didn&#8217;t got as planned &#8211; it was a tough day for me &#8211; but all in all I was definitely proud of my effort and I hope I can continue playing well through the grass.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Alison Riske vs Heather Watson<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/693447200\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/693447200?et=ej1KW9-URoxd0IywKA_6kw&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=2iI5qGhsNk__InEhjyjTjR4enW8tDbc8C6EkMnIX95Q=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>If she is to make headway in the <strong>Aegon Open<\/strong> draw then she is going to have to break British hearts. The draw has pitted Britain&#8217;s <strong>Heather Watson<\/strong> against Riske, a player who boasts a 2-0 head-to-head advantage ahead of this meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Their last match was the semi-final of <strong>Hobart<\/strong> in 2015, a tournament that &#8211; much like Riske in Nottingham &#8211; Watson is particularly fond of. Their career paths have travelled in opposing directions since, with Watson tumbling out of the top 100 while Riske has cracked the top 50.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a couple of years so a lot of things have changed during that time&#8221;, admits Riske.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obviously shes a great player and she has a lot of experience on the grass too. Anyone you play here is going to be tough so I&#8217;m just going to focus on myself and play as hard as I can.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Watson&#8217;s experience on the grass cannot be understated though. A string of impressive results landed her a spot in the final of the <strong>$100k Surbiton<\/strong>. While she eventually lost in \u00a0to <strong>Magdalena Rybarikova<\/strong>, Watson has played her way into a good vein of form ahead of this encounter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pretty much the first two faces you see when you walk onto the Nottingham site.<\/p>\n<p>One of them won&#8217;t be in the second round <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AegonOpen?src=hash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#AegonOpen<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wccADYoFfZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/wccADYoFfZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Barker (@sambarkersport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sambarkersport\/status\/873539395399430144\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 10, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nLast year Alison Riske came to Nottingham with a different schedule meaning she was able to play, and win, a tournament in <strong>Eastbourne<\/strong> before arriving. This year she has not had the luxury of a warm-up event, however she has been training at the National Tennis Centre, as well as arriving in Nottingham early to practice.<\/p>\n<p>Alison Riske begins her <strong>WTA Aegon Open Nottingham<\/strong> campaign against Heather Watson on centre court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/476526798\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 64.983165% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/476526798?et=g0YjYb_ySzZrMMY_OAxgPQ&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=5Kd418GBVCkTG6qGxsipPYuq0IPJhnesxrNnGttkyYo=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"386\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The French Open is over which can mean only one thing. The grass court season has arrived. For players like Alison Riske, this signals the start of a short but vital part of the season where points and tournaments come thick and fast. The destination pencilled into the American&#8217;s calendar every year is Nottingham. She [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1355,"featured_media":2687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[1206,429,204,477,147,1205,48,15,1207],"class_list":["post-2686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-featured","tag-aegon-open","tag-alison-riske","tag-french-open","tag-heather-watson","tag-karolina-pliskova","tag-nottingham","tag-tennis","tag-wta","tag-wta-nottingham"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}