Birmingham, England – American qualifier Alison Riske knocked out fourth-seeded Tamira Paszek in a second-round match Tuesday at the $235,000 Aegon Classic, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.
The 22-year-old Pittsburgh native Riske upended the Austrian Paszek in come-from-behind fashion, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, at Edgbaston Priory Club. The grass- court loving Paszek reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals the last two years.
Also in the second round, sixth-seeded German Mona Barthel avoided an upset by sneaking past Serb Vesna Dolonc 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, while Croat Donna Vekic upended eighth-seeded Pole Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-2, and Madison Keys overcame fellow unseeded American Jamie Hampton 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
In opening-round action involving seeds, No. 9 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium topped Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); No. 12 Kristina Mladenovic of France foiled British wild card Tara Moore 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; No. 14 Heather Watson of Great Britain doused Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-4, 7-6 (7-0); and No. 15 Francesca Schiavone of Italy overcame Georgian Anna Tatishvili 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Wickmayer was a Birmingham runner-up in 2008.
Several other women posted first-round wins, including Slovakian veteran and 2011 Birmingham runner-up Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Aussie qualifier Casey Dellacqua in straight sets.
Top-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium will open her week with a second-round match against Croatian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday.
This week's winner will collect $40,000.
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