Sunday, October 12, 2014

Riske tells Bencic "not quite yet"

Alison Riske
In an odd twist on the "veterans are taking over the tour" theme, 24-year-old Alison Riske won her first WTA title today, and in doing so, denied a first title to 17-year-old Belinda Bencic, one of the brightest of the tour's rising stars. Riske won the inaugural edition of the Tianjing Open, defeating Bencic 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

The doubles title was taken by Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova, who defeated Sorana Cirstea and Andreja Klepac 6-7, 6-2, 10-8. Kudryavtseva and Rodionova got not only a trophy, but also the last availble spot in the WTA Finals draw.

In Linz, the intriguing match-up of Camila Giorgi and Karolina Pliskova ended with a third WTA title for Pliskova, who beat Giorgi 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, saving a match point along the way. Raluca Olaru and Anna Tatishvili won the doubles title, defeating Annika Beck and Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-1.

Finally, in Osaka, top seed Sam Stosur came through again. She defeated Zarina Diyas 7-6, 6-3. This is Stosur's third Osaka title.

In doubles, Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova won the title by defeating Lara Arruabarrena and Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-2.

Qualifying is in progress in both Moscow and Luxembourg.
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2 comments:

  1. sunny nineOctober 13, 2014 at 9:47 PM

    I don't like this "rising star" bit. Do we have to name everything? We always talked about up and comers without calling them "rising stars". Besides some of these "rising stars" don't make it. What do we call them then? I also don't like that the public were allowed to vote for the 4 going to Singapore. This should have been based on merit.
    Plus do we have to borrow from the ATP? The ATP started calling their end of the year whatever, the Tour Finals and now the WTA are calling theirs the Tour Finals. Last year the the ATP had an award for the Star of Tomorrow and now this year the WTA has been pushing "Rising Star". The players today have enough problems with the media light on them. Now we are singling people out with this Rising Star title and the media are going after them younger.
    I am through with my rant.

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  2. DianeOctober 13, 2014 at 10:37 PM

    I wonder, this time next year, how many of the promoted "rising stars" will still be rising. Remember when Tamira Paszek was "the next big thing"? That went on for a couple of seasons--until it didn't.

    A few of them get to move under the radar, which is a blessing. Svitolina and Pliskova come to mind; their progress seems more organic.

    Can you imagine if Chris Evert were just starting her career? She got the "America's Sweetheart" treatment big-time, even back in the day.

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