Alison Riske, 2019 Wimbledon Quarter-finalist and fmr World No. 18, has established herself in the top echelons of WTA Tennis over the past decade. Along with her Tennis exploits, she is dear to Indian Tennis fans as the daughter-in-law of India having married Stephen Amritraj, son of the great Anand Amritraj.
On the cusp of the official announcement of the WTA Tourney in Chennai in September 2022, Alison Riske-Amritraj spoke to ITD on the sidelines of the French Open in Paris about her excitement to play in India.
We have the WTA event in Chennai coming up!
I am so excited. I am going to be there. I am so happy that they are going to put it up on the schedule. I know my husband’s family is very much part of getting it up and running and I am so proud in a way to be a part of it.
India is a special place for me and it will be my second time there. My husband is also coming and we are all so excited.
You had a tough time during the pandemic. How was it to handle this phase mentally?
It was the most challenging phase of my career. In a way, I was blessed that I never encountered an injury that kept me on the sidelines for such a long period of time.
Unfortunately I had a foot injury that kept me out of Tennis on and off for 9 months. It was plantar fasciitis. It was a matter of giving it time to heal. I ended up rupturing it while playing Iga Swiatek last year in Rome. Two weeks after that, I was actually healed and I never felt it afterwards.
It was really hard as I had a lot of momentum, was at my highest ranking, then COVID hit, then I lost the momentum. It was an unfortunate series of events but I am grateful to be back and playing healthy.
I will never ever take anything for granted and it reminds me of the perspective that I need to have.
You had mentioned the role of Psychologist in an interview to Behind The Racquet. Can you talk through the importance of it?
It’s hugely important for me. We are in a sport where we lose every week. So being at the best state of mind is hugely important. I am a huge proponent of it. I feel like at the later stages of my career, I have embraced it a little more and it has definitely changed my life.
