Americans Davis, Riske Reach WTA Finals

January 6, 2017 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff

The good opening week of the season for American women continued on Friday, as both Lauren Davis and Alison Riske moved into the finals of their respective tournaments. Riske advanced to the Shenzhen Open final, while Davis advanced to the ASB Classic title match.

Davis took on seventh-seed Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, and dropped the opening set 4-6. But she recovered to take the second set 6-4, and built a 4-1 advantage in the deciding third set before Ostapenko retired with an illness.

“Today, I woke up in the morning with a fever, coughing and everything. I felt much worse today than yesterday,” Ostapenko said afterwards. “I tried to play the  match but it was very difficult because I wasn’t feeling good at all. She was playing good but I had chances to win the second set. I didn’t, and unfortunately I couldn’t finish the tournament.

During the match, I felt my throat was very painful and my concentration wasn’t good. I wanted to play but I couldn’t.”

Davis will take on eighth-seeded Croat Ana Konjuh in the final. Konjuh hung on to beat Julia Goerges 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in her semifinal.

Riske defeated Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-3, 6-3 in the Shenzhen semifinals to reach the final for the second straight year, and her fourth final overall.

“I’m very happy to get through to another final here,” said Riske. “Because she hits so hard and plays so aggressively, you just have to reach a lot of the time, and just look to get the ball back one more time, one more time. Whether that be slice, a high ball, whatever that may be to get the ball back in play and hope for the best sometimes.”

Riske will take on Katerina Siniakova in the final. Siniakova came back from a set down to upset Johanna Konta 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her semifinal. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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