WHAT HAPPENED: Ann Li leaped to the early lead with razor-sharp play while Alison Riske quickly lost control of her serve and the match, as Li cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory in the second round of the 2020 US Open.
In a battle of Pennsylvanians—13th-seeded Riske is from Pittsburgh and Li hails from King of Prussia—Riske, 30, was the veteran with experience: she reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year for her best ever Grand Slam showing and reached the fourth round at this year's Australian Open. And her career-best fourth-round showing at the US Open came back in 2013 when Li, now 20 was barely into her teens.
But it was Li, who lost their previous matchup, who played with poise while Riske looked uncertain and overmatched. Li ran Riske ragged with side-to-side groundstrokes but also sometimes just blasting unreturnable forehands and backhands. Even on rare occasions on defense shed make strong shots, often producing a Riske error on that one extra shot.
In her first service game, Riske had to catch two tosses then double faulted three straight times. Before she knew it she was down 5-0 in the set. Desperate to turn the tide she attacked the net repeatedly and kept the game alive through six deuces, saving three set points, but in the end she had no answers and Li earned the bagel in just 27 minutes.
Riske played better briefly to start the second, breaking Li's serve but she continued to struggle with double faults and spraying errors and Li ran off the next four games en route to an easy win.
WHAT IT MEANS: Li is showing real potential this year. She advanced to the Australian Open main draw for the first time and won her first match before losing to the eventual champion, Sofia Kenin, in the second round. She moved well against Riske and was able to slide naturally from offense to defense. While she may need more experience to take down some of the top players, she's showing that she is not intimidated by the circumstances.
MATCH POINT: Li will need that confidence in the days ahead. Next up is 2016 U.S. Open champion Angelique Kerber, a lefty who is unlikely to make as many mistakes.
