TC Plus Match of the Day: Petra Kvitova vs. Alison Riske, Wuhan

Alison Riske is on a roll. The 29-year-old American has lost just seven games in her last two matches in Wuhan. She followed up a convincing 6-2, 6-1 third-round victory over world No. 12 Wang Qiang with a 6-1, 6-3 destruction of world No. 3 Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.

She will now face off against Petra Kvitova for the first time since the 2013 US Open third round, where she shocked the tennis world with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over the Grand Slam champion.

Kvitova and Riske each enjoy the extremely quick Wuhan hard courts. Grass is both players' favorite surface, and the court in Wuhan is playing as quick—if not quicker—than the lawns of Wimbledon.

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Riske is playing lethal first-strike tennis, painting lines and finishing a great deal of her points at the net. Kvitova will look to do the same. Defense will be at a premium this match, as the two will battle for court positioning with hard, deep groundstrokes. The first player to cough up a weak reply will pay the price.

The serve will likely be the difference maker in this encounter. Kvitova owns the advantage in that department, as she does against almost any player not named Serena Williams. She will use her dangerous lefty slice-out-wide to pull Riske outside the court and get off to the races.

Kvitova is a surprisingly heavy favorite according to the oddsmakers, especially given Riske’s dominant performance against Svitolina. Yet, it’s hard to pick against Kvitova, who is 16-3 lifetime at the WTA Premier 5 event and has gone on to win the title when she's advanced past the third round (2014, 2016).