“I was absolutely mortified with my performance” Riske overcomes slow start to upset Muguruza

31-year-old Alison Riske scored her third consecutive win over Garbine Muguruza to reach the third round at Indian Wells for the first time in her career

Alison Riske (USA) hits a shot in her 2nd round match at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

March 12, 2022

WTA BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells 2022 | Results | Schedule

For the first nine games of her second round match against the reigning WTA Finals champion Garbine Muguruza, American Alison Riske could barely get her game going. The 31-year-old quickly found herself down 6-0, 3-0 against the two-time Grand Slam winner in just 20 minutes and was feeling bad for the fans who had bought tickets for the match.

“Oh, gosh, honestly so many things were going through my mind. I was absolutely mortified with my performance. I was, People actually paid to come and watch this (laughter). It was 20 minutes in, I’m nine games down deep. I’m like, I’m ready to leave this court (laughter).”

“I do pride myself on always fighting regardless of what the situation is”: Alison Riske

But somehow managed to find her rhythm and came back to pull off an incredible 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 win in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.

The win was no fluke either. It marked her third win in a row over the Spaniard, who is a former world No. 1, and puts Riske, a former top 20 player now ranked 53rd in the world, into the third round at Indian Wells for the first time in 10 appearances in the tournament.

“In all fairness, I have beaten her the last couple times. I did feel, despite how poorly I was playing, if I could just scrap through a couple game, get myself on the board, I was actually going to have a chance. That’s actually how it unfolded. She double-faulted for me to break her serve to go 3-2. I really had a good feeling about that afterwards.”

“I do pride myself on always fighting regardless of what the situation is. I think today was just a prime example of that. Honestly, I’m really proud for that alone, just to be able to pull through. So, kind of just tried to get myself going, tried to bring some energy, just get myself on the board.”

Riske will next meet fellow American Madison Keys, who scored a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over Misaki Doi, of Japan.

• Seeds who won on Friday (2nd round) : Swiatek (3), Kerber (9), Raduanu (11), Kerber (15), Gauff (16), Kasatkina (23), Halep (24), Keys (25), Cirstea (26), Samsonova (28), Tauson (29)

• Seeds who lost (2nd round) : Pliskova (7, vs Kovinic), Muguruza (8, vs Riske), Svitolina (12, vs Dart), Zidansek (19, vs Martic), Bencic (22, vs Kanepi)