(Image source from: Instagram/riske4rewards)

American tennis player Alison Riske, besides making name her name in a racket sport attained fame with her moves on Bollywood beats from her wedding last month that went viral on social media platforms.

The 29-year-old, who won her first round match at the US Open, married Stephen Amritraj, the nephew of Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj in her hometown of Pittsburgh.

Talking about her nuptials, the ace tennis player said: “The whole weekend was awesome, just to have everyone that we love together - it was really special.

“There were so many highlights. The Pittsburgh cookie table was definitely a hit. I think my Bollywood dance went over well, as well.”

Riske admitted rehearsing for the dance brought nerves, but nothing like what she faces on the court.

“I practiced the Bollywood dance so much that I knew when I got up there if I didn’t freeze, I was going to be OK,” Riske said. “Once I got past the initial first move I was ready to go.

“I take a lot more pride in my tennis than I do my Bollywood dance. I feel there are more nerves associated with that than the dance.”

                        (Image source from:  WTA Tennis)

She admitted that her moves on Bollywood track got great exposure than any of her tennis matches. “It was hilarious,” she said. “The amount of Indian magazines and Indian influencer pages that picked it up was really entertaining for me and my husband. We both really enjoyed that.

“Yeah, I can’t say I have ever had anything in my tennis career that got as many watches or likes.”

 

 

 

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since this has come to be a fan favorite, (), I want to share the story of how it came to be! My sister, Sarah, has an Indian customer whose wife, Gayatri, helped us. Gayatri chose the song and came up with the choreography for us. Sarah would visit each month for business and sneak in a dance lesson, learn the moves, slow them down, and then send them to me via text while I was on the road! I started learning it during Dubai in February. We practiced it together for the first time 6 days ago. It was the perfect surprise for @stephenamritraj and his wonderful family! Thanks to @prakashamritraj & @jenny_brady7 for keeping the secret- they were the only ones who knew- along with my family of course! Blessed to be an Amritraj!you can watch the rest on my Twitter. Ps. Yes, my sis is pretty kickass.#bollywood #burghbrides

A post shared by Alison Riske-Amritraj (@riske4rewards) on Jul 23, 2019 at 12:34pm PDT

For this American tennis player, what’s more exciting was visiting her husband’s family.

“I did go to Chennai and I met my husband’s grandmother while she was still living, which was really special that I had the opportunity to meet her,” Riske said.

“India, in general, is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been in the entire world, not that I’ve hit every place. I feel you experience it with every sense literally. You’ll see things you never see before. You’ll smell things you never smelled before. It’s definitely an experience.

“I’m sure we will go back together. We had the opportunity, as well, to go north to Delhi and travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, which was really special and one of our favorite moments together, for sure.”

Read: Meet Sumit Nagal, the First Indian to take a set off Roger Federer

Referring to her ongoing stint at the US Open, Riske said: “I feel really confident. I feel like I’m playing good tennis. I can compete with anyone. I just think there’s a sense of freedom that’s allowing me to kind of just play my best tennis.

“I’m just really excited that I have given myself a chance to play another match.”

As of now, apart from relishing married life, she would like to have more joyful moments in US Open.

By Sowmya Sangam