The American upset trend continued to roll on, but this time, the major upset occurred in Stanford with Alison Riske taking over the headlines. Riske upset world number ten and third-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.
It was a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory for the American in the break-filled match. In the 20 games played, there 12 breaks. That means only 40 percent of the games were service holds.
Riske battles back from a break down to take opening set
In the first three games, there were three breaks of serve as that would set the tone for the rest of the match. Suarez Navarro finally held for a 3-1, and Riske would follow suit to cut the lead to 3-2.
However after that, the breaks would continue to pour on. Four of the next five games were breaks which would up the tally for seven in the set. The American leveled the score on her first opportunity at 30-40 in the sixth game, but the world number ten hit back with a break at love.
In the game of the match, Riske and Suarez Navarro battled for 15 points in the eighth game. All in all, there were six opportunities for someone to add to their tally sheet, and the American would add to her score by converting her fourth break chance. Two points was all that Riske would lose in the next two games as she clinched the opening set 6-4 on a break.
Suarez Navarro falters in final game to give Riske the upset
After a love hold to kick off the set for the American, another moment in the match with three consecutive breaks began. Riske would grab two of those three breaks to take a 3-1 lead and consolidated for the 4-1 lead.
The world number ten earned the break back when she needed it most with Riske serving for the match. Third time was the charm for her as she broke at 30-40 after holding 0-40 lead. Despite that though, it all came crashing back down to earth for Suarez Navarro. At 15-40, the American capped off the upset in this match which saw a plethora of breaks.
The stats were not pretty either, especially for the Spaniard. She hit 58 percent of first serves in and only won half of those points. Also, she only won less than 40 percent of points on Riske’s first serve. That is a poor number considering Riske’s serve isn’t her forte.
The seven double faults from the American just show how poor of a server she is. She will take on Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals while Suarez Navarro flies to Canada in preparation for the Rogers Cup.