Riske loses in quarterfinals of Bank of West Classic
STANFORD, Calif. – McMurray native Alison Riske fell to 8th-seeded Elina Svitolina, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Bank of West Classic on Friday.
Riske had faced Svitolina, ranked 20th in the world, just one other time, that coming in 2012. Svitolina also won that match against Riske, ranked 59th in the world, in three sets.
Riske and Svitolina played evenly in the first two sets Friday before the Russian wore Riske down in the final set. Svitolina had three of her four aces in the decisive set.
Riske’s loss Friday came just two days after she had upset third-seeded and 10th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic advanced to the semifinals, beating Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-4.
The 11th-ranked Pliskova will make her debut in the top 10 when the new rankings are released Monday.
Only world No. 1 Serena Williams, who withdrew from Stanford with an elbow injury, has more wins (40-1) than Pliskova (38-14) this year and the fourth-seeded Czech player snapped a tie with Williams for most aces on the tour. Pliskova has 361 to Serena’s 352.
Today, Pliskova will meet the winner of a later match between No. 60 Varvara Lepchenko of the United States and No. 63 Mona Barthel of Germany.
Pliskova will become the eighth Czech woman to be ranked in the top 10 since the current system was introduced in 1975, and three Czech women will be among the top 10 for the first time in WTA history.