Alison Riske bests Garbine Muguruza in three sets

Alison Riske clenches her fist during a point of her match with Garbine Muguruza at the BNP Paribas Open. 

Garbine Muguruza came out dominating the competition and all of the sudden out of the BNP Paribas Open Friday night. Her demise was once again at the hands of Alison Riske, who used her tactics to take the Spaniard by storm in the final two sets winning 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Stadium One at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  

The two have gone at it four times with the series tied between them. Though their last meeting dated three years back. Riske hoped to keep her grip on the Spaniard, having won the last two straight against her. The American opened the gap each set they played in those two, leading to huge victories. Riske already has a win in the California desert, while Muguruza seeks her first in over two weeks. She was knocked out at this stage last year and would fight Riske through every point to avoid it again. 

 The Spaniard opened the scoring with a strong hold in the first and watched her opponent struggle with the service. Riske battled back to force deuce but committed a double fault that handed the eighth seed a 2-0 lead with the break. Muguruza jumped to 40-0 due to return errors from Riske, but the 31-year-old rallied back to deuce. It was a short-lived moment for Riske, who continued to struggle with the second serve and give Muguruza another service. 

She backed it up with a dominant break in the fourth giving her a comfortable lead and stand over Riske. The next two games went the way of the eighth seed, who allowed Riske three combined points before closing the first set in 25 minutes. Muguruza won 82 percent of her points from the first serve and only scored three winners against her opponent. Riske struggled with the offense and suffered a big hit that she knew she needed to fix quick. 

The eighth seed didn’t give her much time to do so, as she opened the scoring with another big win. Avoiding a breakpoint chance for the American, Muguruza forced deuce and held the first AD point played. She broke the 31-year-old on the fifth point and backed it up with a fast service in the third to win her ninth in a row. 

When it looked like all hope was lost, Riske somehow found a way to etch a victory during her service. A break followed that up for the American, who managed to switch the momentum to her benefit. Riske achieved her third straight over the Spaniard, who was no longer in control of her game. The American made another large statement, gaining three break points on Muguruza, and held enough of them to lead the second set. 

Sitting on a four-game losing streak, Muguruza tried to counter Riske’s service but despite gaining two points, the American held her ground to lead 5-3. With one last chance to keep the set alive, Muguruza fell behind on the score and watched Riske coast to victory to push them to the distance after 38 minutes. Both increased the winners but it was Riske, who recorded seven to the Spaniard’s five. The difference came on unforced errors, which was a pivotal game changer when Muguruza notched a dozen. 

With the third set in action, Riske picked up right where she left off scoring a serve to love. She then broke the eighth seed to love in the second and put the balls back in her hands for the third game. Muguruza denied her that chance to gain and broke the American to get on the board. A fight ensued in the fourth where the Spaniard fought Riske for the AD point on deuce through four breaks. Riske saved Muguruza from clinching the game point on two occasions before scoring the break back on her second attempt. It was the straw that broke Muguruza’s offense as Riske went back to serve, scoring a shutout in the fifth. The American made it 5-1, allowing the Spaniard a single point before serving for the upset. Riske was in full control and made good of her time against the former world number one, who suffered another shutout to end her tournament spectacularly. 

It was 93 minutes of pure success for Riske, who had a lot to be proud of when it came to handling the issues of being dominated in the opening set to scoring her third match win over the eighth seed.