When the going gets tough for Alison Riske at the US Open, she reaches for a security blanket, a childhood prop that the 23-year-old still carries in her tennis bag.
Riske has reached the fourth round of a major for the first time and on Monday will look to break into the quarter-finals when she meets Slovakian veteran Daniela Hantuchova.
But until a run to the Wimbledon third round this year, she had fallen at the first round of all her five previous Grand Slam appearances, a series of knock-backs which left her contemplating a return to college to study medicine.
“The blankie story is out. I can’t deny it now. It’s getting smaller by the week. It can fit in the palm of my hand,” said the South Carolina native who made the last 16 by beating former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
With compatriot Serena Williams, the top seed and defending champion, dominating home hopes, Riske has moved without fuss into the second week and finds herself in the more comfortable half of the draw.
While Williams is one of five top 10 players in the top section, Riske is one of six women outside of the world’s leading 10 amongst the remaining eight left in the opposite section.
Riske admits that the security blanket has been a long-standing comfort although its best days are behind it.
“My siblings always used to hide it. Used to make me so mad. It’s been there since the second I was born. It’s been around the world.
“Originally it started out like forest green and now it’s like mint green. I don’t know if it’s a color now.”
Riske reaches for security 'blankie' at US Open
