Weekend Warriors: Riske reaches SF in Netherlands

Every Friday throughout the 2019 season, "Weekend Warriors" will spotlight the Americans who have advanced to the business end of ATP, WTA and USTA Pro Circuit tournaments. Stay tuned to see who is still standing heading into the weekend and where to watch their trophy chase.  

One week after taking the ITF World Tennis Tour W100 title on the grass of Surbiton, Great Britain, Alison Riske is into her second WTA semifinal of 2019. In the Dutch city of s-Hertogenbosch, the 28-year-old reached the final four by defeating Karolina Muchova, Polona Hercog and Ekaterina Alexandrova. 

On Saturday, she will face Veronika Kudermetova in a battle of unseeded semifinalists.

Jennifer Brady is also still in contention for a title, at the Nottingham Open, where she faces No. 4 Maria Sakkari on Friday. The former UCLA Bruin took out the No. 7 seed, Zhang Shuai, in the opening round in Great Britain.

The two WTA events will be televised throughut the weekend on Tennis Channel.

On the USTA Pro Circuit, four tournaments are running this week—two each on the men's and women's sides.

The women's action is highlighted by top-seeded Usue Arconada's bid for a second straight Pro Circuit title, after her win last week in Bethany Beach, Del. This week, she is contesting the W25 event in Sumter, S.C.

On the men' side, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski is the lone American in the semifinals at the Columbus Challenger in Ohio.

A host of past and present college stars headline the quarterfinal field at the ITF WTT W25 event in Wichita, Kan., including No. 2-seeded Alexander Ritschard (formerly of UVA), No. 3 Brandon Holt (USC), No. 5 Jordi Arconada (formerly of Texas A&M) and seeded Florida teammates Sam RIffice and Oliver Crawford.