Alison Riske clinched her first title of 2016 after an impressive performance on the British grass courts. The American took home the winner's prize at the Aegon Eastbourne Trophy this past Friday. It was a tough task for Riske, but she got the job done and with the trophy, she earned 80 ranking points and a chunk of money before starting her grass-court season on the WTA Tour.
Top seed's week in review
Riske entered into the $50,000 ITF event with a ranking of 88 worldwide, which placed her as the number one seed. She breezed through her first three matches by just dropping eight games through six total sets. Her first tough task then came in her semifinal match, where she ousted the returning Australian, Ashleigh Barty. Riske passed the Aussie in two tight sets to advance to her first final since her Shenzhen Open run in January.
The championship match was a battle between the top seed and the home hope wildcard, Tara Moore. Court 1 burst with excitement when their British sweetheart claimed the first set over a player ranked almost 200 positions ahead of her. Moore continued her form to arrive at two match points in the second set before the American battled back to force a third set in dramatic, clutch fashion. The momentum had clearly shifted, and Riske smoothly sealed a sweet victory, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.
American ends title drought and disappointments
Riske had yet to win a title since 2014, when she lifted her first WTA title in Tianjin, China. Since then, the American has had a rough patch with having not won a single main draw match at a Grand Slam since the 2014 Wimbledon tournament. She also has gone through losing streaks, and most notably she lost eight straight matches last fall. But with her favorite surface being grass, Riske could get her season back on track this June, especially after gaining the confidence in Eastbourne.