By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday May 26, 2022
Playing in her back yard in Paris, 19-year-old Diane Parry is showing the world why she is a top tier talent. The former junior No.1 put her elegant, flowing game on display in a first-round upset of defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, and managed to back it up on Wednesday night with a decisive victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio on Day 4, 6-3, 6-3.
Parry, one of two WTA players left in the women’s singles draw with a one-handed backhand, has an interesting story.
She was born in the South of France but moved to Paris at a very young age. She grew up on the Boulogne Billancourt neighborhood, just steps away from the fabled grounds of Roland-Garros and still lives there today.
When other players go back to their hotel or rented Air BNB after their matches, Parry heads home to kick back and relax and get away from the madness of tennis’ travelling circus.
The 19-year-old appreciates a situation that is rare in tennis these days.
“I can go back home in the evening and disconnect, I'm no longer on the tournament or close to the imagery and this is very important and it helps me,” she told reporters on Wednesday night. “The other thing is that I feel I'm at home, I practice here throughout the year, but this time there's this special atmosphere, there's the crowd, they're very happy to be here, and they enjoy all the matches they see and all the players they see. So I'm very, very happy to see that they're always present during all the matches.”
Another unique factor about Parry is that she spent nearly all of 2021 playing on clay. The plan was to use the surface as a tool to make her a more physical player. She played 69 of 73 matches on the surface, and even skipped US Open qualifying to continue with the plan. Apparently, it has worked.
“It was important, because it helped me progress physically,” Parry said of the decision to focus on clay. “By actually having a lot of matches under my belt on clay court, I managed to make progress physically speaking, much more than in practice. And I gained in self-confidence, because also winning a tournament helps a lot. I gain in self-confidence a lot, and my level of play also geared up. Of course it was hard also to skip the US Open, but it was a deliberate choice. I needed to make progress for my career.”
She has risen from outside the Top-300 to her current perch of 97 in the world. She’ll go even higher after Roland-Garros. She’s slated to rise to at least 81 and could rise further if she defeats Sloane Stephens in third-round action.
We asked her how she has been able to climb the rankings so swiftly in the last year. This was her answer.
“I think my game is improving a lot, but I still have to, like, work on my shot physically and on my backhand to be better and to be stronger in the rallies,” she said. “Yeah, try to improve my game, my aggressivity on my forehand. I think it's a good weapon in my game.
“Yeah, try to work on my good shot and also my bad shot, you know what I mean?”