By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday December 11, 2022
The 21-year-old American has climbed over 50 spots in two weeks, to No.75 in the world.
Photo Source: Getty
When Alycia Parks hit a 129 MPH serve at the 2021 US Open, the Atlanta native was officially on the radar of tennis aficionados everywhere. Parks didn't play a lot of junior tennis, so many were among the uninitiated.
Tying Venus Williams for the fastest recorded serve by a woman in tournament history is quite an achievement, but Parks, now 21, has much bigger goals after racking up ten consecutive victories to earn back-to-back titles in Andorra and Angers to finish her season with a bang.
She has officially arrived, both in form and in confidence.
"If I keep playing like this, how I'm feeling now, I should be going through draws pretty freely,” she told WTA Insider last week. “I do see myself Top 10 next year, which is pretty high, but it's definitely doable. So I think Top 10 next year is a goal for me."
It makes sense that Parks has entered the Top-100 this week (she’ll rise to 75 tomorrow) because she has competed effectively against the players with Top-100 rankings in 2022. Parks finishes her season with a 6-5 record against the Top 100 (she was 1-5 entering the season) including three Top-100 triumphs in the last two weeks.
The American defeated former World No. 45 (currently 146) Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany on Sunday, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and she also claimed the doubles title, alongside partner Zhang Shuai.
In the singles final Parks won 41 of 48 first-serve points and cracked six aces. She faced only one break point and surrendered one break across the one hour and 46-minute final.
Across her two title runs, Parks has won all five tiebreaks and all four deciding sets she has played
She joins a cast of 14 Americans inside the WTA's Top-100 - a far cry from 234, her ranking at the end of 2022.