Wedding bells sound sweet to Riske as she prepares to face Williams in quarters

[July 09, 2019]    LONDON (Reuters) - Alison Riske said she wished she could get married more often after crediting her upcoming nuptials for her barnstorming run at Wimbledon which has earned her a quarter-final date with fellow American Serena Williams.

Alison Riske of the U.S. celebrates winning her fourth round match against Australia's Ashleigh Barty REUTERS/Toby Melville

Riske, who will marry Stephen Amritraj, the son of former Indian Davis Cup player Anand, after Wimbledon, stunned world number one Ash Barty to notch up her 14th win in 15 matches on grass this season.

Tuesday's clash against seven-times Wimbledon champion Williams will be her first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final.

"I wish I could get married more often. Maybe we'll have to renew our vows because it's worked out well having that on the horizon," Riske told reporters.

"I'm looking forward to it so much. Everything is pretty much already in stone. I'm not really stressed about it.

"I haven't been stressed about it really from the beginning probably because my fiance has been doing all the work."

Riske has a history of doing well on grass, having won 11 of her 19 career Grand Slam matches at Wimbledon.

When asked about the prospect of facing Williams for a place in the last four, Riske said: "It's super exciting. I played doubles with Serena but never played against her. It will be an interesting match.

"Today was a great preparation for me going into the Serena match. Again, I'm ready for a war. She's the greatest athlete I think that's ever been on the women's side."

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru)

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