Linette made her first appearance in a WTA Tour main draw at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May 2013, where she also scored her first win at this level. The same year, she reached her first WTA semifinal in Baku, coming from qualifying. Linette won her first WTA Tour title at the 2019 Bronx Open, and her first WTA 125 title at the 2014 Ningbo International Open. Her best result in WTA Premier tournaments is quarterfinal of 2016 Pan Pacific Open. Linette has reached the third round of all Grand Slam championships; her most successful in terms on winning percentage is the Roland-Garros. In 2020, she won Fan Favorite Shot of the Year by the WTA for a slice forehand that she played en-route her second WTA Tour title at the 2020 Thailand Open in her match against Peng Shuai.

She has won three WTA Tour singles titles, as well as nine singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Women’s Circuit. Her best singles performances at Grand Slam tournaments include reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2020, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2019 (where she defeated world No. 1 and reigning French Open champion Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round) and the fourth round of the US Open in 2013. Despite having not won a WTA doubles title, Riske has had success in doubles at the Grand Slam level, reaching the 2019 Australian Open semifinals with Jennifer Brady and the 2020 US Open quarterfinals with Gabriela Dabrowski, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 40 on January 13, 2020. She has had numerous career wins over current and former top 10 players such as Barty, Elina Svitolina, Sloane Stephens, Petra Kvitová, Agnieszka Radwańska, Kiki Bertens, Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Flavia Pennetta, Garbiñe Muguruza, Daria Kasatkina, Angelique Kerber, and Julia Görges. The daughter of Al and Carol Riske, she first played tennis at the age of three, after her dad took her out to hit. Her father worked in the Secret Service and later as an FBI investigator, while her mother was a school teacher, but both are now retired. Her sister, Sarah, who is also a tennis player, played for Vanderbilt University and had a brief professional career, rising as high as No. 372. Her brother, Dan, played college tennis for West Liberty State, and is now an accountant.