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U.S. OPENAugust 31, 2013Alison RiskeNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK A. RISKE/P. Kvitova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Who did you hit the ball to? Who was the ball girl? You were in celebration. ALISON RISKE: Oh, who did I hit the ball to? I was trying to get it to a specific group of people, and I actually didn't get it there. I heard them throughout the whole match. I thought it was so nice they were cheering for me. I don't know who they were, but they were awesome. I didn't hug a ball girl, so I'm not really sure who that was. It was really emotional for me. It's just really cool because I feel like I'm playing within myself. I'm not doing anything crazy. It just feels really comfortable. It's exciting. Q. Can you take us back to the start of this summer, before Wimbledon, where were you mentally at that point? Were you feeling you were on the verge of these things or starting to question things a bit? ALISON RISKE: Well, I mean, I went with my coach that I have now, Yves Boulais, about almost a year ago. Before that I was kind of questioning things. Once I got back with him, things kind of unfolded themselves. I felt really comfortable. I knew that with the tennis I was playing that things were going to start coming together. I just didn't know when. Q. Is it true there's a blankie in your life? ALISON RISKE: I'm used to it now. The blankie story is out. I can't deny it now (laughter). It's getting smaller by the week. It can fit in the palm of my hand. Q. Obviously you've had this since birth? ALISON RISKE: Yes. Q. Has it taken you through any particularly tough times, disappeared at any moments? ALISON RISKE: My siblings always used to hide it. Used to make me so mad (laughter). No, it's been there since the second I was born. It's been around the world. Q. What color is it? ALISON RISKE: Well, originally it started out like forest green and now it's like mint green. I don't know if it's a color now. Q. Is it with you in New York? ALISON RISKE: Yes. Q. Does it go in the racquet bag or stay in your hotel? ALISON RISKE: No, it stays in the room. Q. You were emotional on the court. Can you try to relive the feelings you had on the court right after. ALISON RISKE: No, it was just really cool to see hard work kind of be put together, you know, to kind of happen. It was really cool for me. I have such a great support team behind me. They're kind of like my family. So for them to be there with me was really special. Q. She seemed to unravel a bit at the end. Called the trainer. They took her blood pressure. Did you have a sense of what was going on at that point? ALISON RISKE: No, I have no idea. I don't really mind to know. Q. You're close friends with a lot of the other young American girls. How exciting is it to see you all doing well at the same time? ALISON RISKE: Yeah, it's definitely awesome. Yeah, I think Christina is on court right now. I was wanting to take a look. I hope she pulls it through. Yeah, no, it's so cool. It's a really good group of girls. It's neat that we're kind of putting America on the map. Q. Speaking of a map, when we think of western Pennsylvania, it seems more Joe Montana. Are you ready to put western Pennsylvania on the tennis map? Talk about growing up there. ALISON RISKE: I hope I'm doing Pittsburgh proud, getting them out there. But, yeah, definitely you think more of the Pittsburgh Steelers when you think of Pittsburgh, not exactly tennis. But, yeah, I had a great junior career there. Pittsburgh is a special place. Q. Can you think of the best tennis player to come from Pittsburgh? ALISON RISKE: Well, I'd like to think I'm up there. I mean, I know Bjorn Fratangelo, a junior, doing great. Gretchen Rush I believe had a pretty good career. Yeah, hopefully I'm working my way up. Q. Was there any thought to going to college for you? Could you talk about what schools you were looking at? ALISON RISKE: Well, I actually signed with Vanderbilt in '09. I had every intention of going to college. But I had a sponsor come out two weeks before class began. I figured this is my chance. Yeah, it's been wonderful. Q. Who was the sponsor? ALISON RISKE: He's just an individual man. He owns a chemical company. He was a family friend, a huge tennis fanatic. Tech Chem is his company. I've been so blessed to have him behind me. Q. You said your dad started you in tennis. Why tennis? ALISON RISKE: Well, my dad always wanted his kids to be in an individual sport so they could kind of determine their own destiny. Both my sister and brother played. Once I came along, I didn't have a choice. He kind of forced it upon me. But I grew to love it. I won my first tournament when I was nine, eight or nine. After that, you know, it was kind of like, All right, I like the trophies. Q. Before the last couple months, was there any thinking, Maybe I should have gone to college? ALISON RISKE: It's really tough out here. Every week isn't like this. But that's the great part about it, too, because if you do have a bad week you can kind of follow it up the following week with something better. Yeah, there were definitely times of doubt. My team was so supportive and pushed me through. Yeah, I'm definitely in a better place. Q. Would you go through your team. ALISON RISKE: My each Yves Boulais, his wife Patricia Hy. She used to be 28 in the world. He coached her. I've worked with him on and off since I was 14. They have two little kids, a boy and a girl, who are like my little brother and sister. They're all here, which is so awesome. The whole JTCC family, Junior Tennis Champion Center in College Park, Maryland, that's where I train. I feel like we're one big family there. It's a great environment. Q. Talk about the JTCC. Pretty unusual to have in College Park. Talk about the atmosphere there. ALISON RISKE: Well, it's so cool. It's so cool for me because most of the kids there, the players, are juniors. But they are wicked. I play with them every day. They are absolutely awesome. I feel like a lot of future champions will be coming out of there. Yeah, it's just a great environment. They have great training facilities, great people. Q. Who are the coaches there? Did you do academics there also? ALISON RISKE: No. Yves, my coach, got a job there about six months ago, five months ago. I just followed them there. No, I didn't do academics there. Q. Do your siblings still play tennis? ALISON RISKE: Yeah. Well, my sister will go out. I like to take her out there just so I can beat her up a little bit. No, just kidding (laughter). We haven't gone out for a while. I think she still plays for fun. My brother not so much. Maybe we'll get them all together. Q. How old are they? ALISON RISKE: My brother is 20 and my sister is 31. Q. Talk about the dynamics of the young Americans. Is there a jealousy there? ALISON RISKE: Yeah, well, I mean, obviously, you know, when everybody else wins, you're like, Oh, gosh, I wish I could be doing that, too. But I think that's why it is great, because it shows you that I hit with them, I practice with them, I can do it too. It's really great. Like I said, all of us really are friends. We do talk to each other. We hang out, eat lunch together, go to dinner. I'm playing doubles with Melanie in a couple hours. Mel and I are really close. It's cool to have everyone's support. Q. Do you think this surge could continue? ALISON RISKE: Absolutely. I think Sloane and Jamie have obviously paved the way for us. Madison Keys. They've done exceptionally well. Everyone's young. I think everyone's under 24. I think there's a lot of good tennis in all of us. Q. How does it feel to be in the bigger interview rooms? ALISON RISKE: Oh, it's really cool. It's really neat. It's nice that there are more than two people (laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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