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FEDCUP WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND: ITALY v U.S.A.February 9, 2014Alison RiskeCLEVELAND, OHIO K. KNAPP/A. Riske THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. When did you find out that you were going to be playing in your first Fed Cup singles? ALISON RISKE: I found out last evening after all the matches were finished. Yeah, I was so excited to come out. Obviously, it was a big‑pressure match as I was trying to win to keep America alive. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do so. But it was a great experience. I actually felt extremely comfortable out there. I just felt like Knapp played exceptionally well. Q. Talk about the second‑set adjustments you made in elevating your game. ALISON RISKE: Well, I had to do something differently because she was completely attacking me. I tried to be the first one to go after it. I tried to come in a little bit more. She was serving really well today, so it was just a matter of weathering the storm. Sometimes I wasn't able to consolidate the break by holding my serve, so it was a long day. Q. Can you pinpoint what was going wrong with your serve? Was it the pressure or something technical maybe? ALISON RISKE: Yeah, well, I think I had this week to prepare, but I feel like once I get home, I just need more time to serve out of a bucket I think for an hour or so just to get my rhythm back. Obviously under such pressure, you know, it adds another element to it. I can't exactly tell you. I'm sure something's going a little bit wrong there. But, yeah, pressure obviously changes things, as well. Q. Can you just describe what the experience was like, explain your morning leading up to the match, how you felt during it and after. ALISON RISKE: Yeah, well, that's the great part about having been here for a week to prepare because every day was pretty similar. If I didn't play a match today, it was just a practice day, we would have had practice matches with the team. In that regard it was extremely comfortable. I felt great out there. Obviously having all the support was awesome. It was an unbelievable experience for me. I felt like I learned a lot. I think like only good things can be taken from this. It's a priceless opportunity to play in a stand like that and to have the pressure on you. You can't replicate that. I think something like that's going to help me when I play in a Grand Slam and play against a player, any player, just to be in that type of environment. I think it's exactly what I needed. I'm happy that I got to play. Q. How does this type of pressure compare to the pressure you experience in a Grand Slam or an individual tournament? ALISON RISKE: It's pretty similar. I mean, the only pressure I'm speaking of is pressure I put on myself, just to clarify that. Obviously, you know, having the pressure to keep us in the running in this match is a huge deal. But honestly, I can't say that that affected me that much out there. I just tried to do my best. That's what I did. I came up a little short. Q. So when you're out by yourself playing tournaments and what have you, do you get to spend a lot of time with other American players? If not, was this unique in that way? Did you hang out with the girls? ALISON RISKE: Yeah, our days were pretty much from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. There was maybe an hour or so that we weren't together. For the most part we were. That's the great part about the team that we have now, is all of us do get along and we are friends. It makes it really easy. Yeah, I would happily go to dinner with all of them at a tournament. There's no black sheep in there (laughter). Q. Was anyone, family, friends, in attendance this weekend? Anybody here with you? ALISON RISKE: Yeah, there's actually a big group of people from Pittsburgh here. My brother got to come. I don't really like my family to come to tournaments because of the distraction. I thought, All right, this will be one, it's close to home, I'm going to let them come. My mom came, my brother. My dad gets too nervous. We couldn't bring him in there. My sister lives too far away. But there were a couple in attendance. Q. What's next for you? ALISON RISKE: I have a couple weeks to train and then I'm going to Indian Wells. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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