Alison Riske Feeling Good as she reaches her 1st WTA Tour Quarterfinal

Alison Riske plays with the Wilson Tour BLX tennis racket

Alison Riske Feeling Good as she reaches her 1st WTA Tour Quarterfinal

American Alison Riske is having her breakout tournament with her new Wilson Tour BLX tennis racket as she defeated former Top 10 player Anna Chakvetadze to reach her first WTA Tour quarterfinal in Birmingham, England.

“I’m feeling great!” exclaimed Riske. “I love my BLX racket and I want to keep this win streak going.”

It is a tournament of firsts for the 19 yr old Riske, as she qualified into the 2010 AEGON Classic in Birmingham and defeated Top 100 player Zahlavova to mark her first WTA Tour career victory and then backed up her first win with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 defeat over World No.50 Wozniak for her first win over a Top 50 player. She will now take on Wickmayer in the quarterfinals.

“It’s been a terrific week thus far and is giving me the confidence I want going into Wimbledon,” said Riske.

In 2009, Riske began a run on the ITF Pro Circuit. As a qualifier, she reached the semifinals of a challenger in Indian Harbour Beach, followed it with a finals showing in Hilton Head and again as a qualifier, she reached the semifinals of two challenger events, Boston and Atlanta. Most recently, Riske reached the quarterfinals of the ITF Pro Circuit event in Nottingham to reach a current career high #185 on the WTA Tour.

“Clearly, grass is her surface,” said Wilson Tour Manager Americas, Adam Schaechterle. “It’s great to see Alison have a fantastic result and we look forward to watching her continue to fight her way up.”