Alison Riske is an American professional tennis player who was born on July 3, 1990, in Pittsburgh, United States. She was just 3 years old when she first picked up a racquet after he dad took her out for a hit. Tennis really was a sport that ran in the family, with sister Sarah rising as high as 372 in the world rankings while brother Dan played at college.
2009 was when she was really starting to give tennis her all, entering ITF tournaments in the hope of racking up enough points and experience to make it on the WTA Tour. Following a year of hard graft, she earned her debut at the WTA level at the Birmingham Classic in the United Kingdom.
The qualifying rounds set up nicely what ended up being a stellar week for the American, with her going on an almost unbeatable run. It was only when number 2 seed Maria Sharapova beat her in the semifinal that she lost, giving her the best possible start to life on the WTA tour.
This performance gained immediate attention, ultimately earning her a spot in the Wimbledon main draw of that same season. It was not long before Riske could call herself a fully-fledged member of the WTA, with her reaching the fourth round of the 2013 US Open.
The following season, it was her time to shine at the Tianjin Open, where she proceeded to win her maiden WTA title after beating Belinda Bencic in the final. Things started to stabilize for Riske, with her reaching three more finals in 2016 before pushing on in the late 2010s to record her best Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon (quarterfinal).
Back on her favorite surface grass, Riske got her second bit of WTA silverware under her belt at the Libema Open, where she beat Kiki Bertens in three sets. This stellar summer on the grass pushed her up to what proved to be a career-high ranking of world number 18 by the end of the 2019 season.
Despite suffering a slight loss of form as she headed into the 2020s, the American was not done yet in terms of accolades, as she got her latest to date WTA Tour title at the 2021 Linz Open. This remains her most recent piece of silverware, with the American recently taking a hiatus in terms of her tennis career.
