Alycia Parks wins maiden WTA title in Lyon, steamrolls home favorite Caroline Garcia

Alycia Parks won her maiden WTA singles title at the 2023 Lyon Open by beating home favorite and top seed Caroline Garcia 7-6(7), 7-5 in the final on Sunday.

The 22-year-old entered the tournament unseeded and started with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Julia Grabher. She then came back from a set down to oust fourth seed Petra Martic 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Parks followed this up with straight-set wins over seventh seed Danka Kovinic and Maryna Zanevska to set up a summit clash against World No. 5 Caroline Garcia.

Parks had a break point early in the opening set of the final but Garcia managed to save it. Both players were very strong on their serve, taking things to a tiebreaker to determine the outcome of the first set. Parks edged out Garcia 9-7 in the shootout to take the lead.

The second set was a tightly contested one as well and both players found it hard to make a break of serve. Parks saved a break point in the fifth game before squandering one in the eighth. Garcia had three break points in the 11th game but the 22-year-old held her nerve and saved them all.

She then made the only break of the match to take the second set 7-5 and win her maiden WTA singles title in Lyon. The 22-year-old showed off her brilliant service game by serving 15 aces and winning 39 out of 46 points on her first serve. Her second serve wasn't bad either, as she won 21 out of 37 points.

Parks' exploits in Lyon will see her reach a career-high ranking of World No. 51 when the new set of WTA rankings are released on Monday.

Alycia Parks will next compete at the Linz Open

Alycia Parks in action at the 2022 bett1open in Berlin

After winning her maiden WTA singles title in Lyon, Alycia Parks is next scheduled to take part in the Linz Open in Austria. The American will take on fourth seed and World No. 31 Anhelina Kalinina in the first round. It will be the second meeting between the two, with the Ukrainian winning their previous encounter 6-2, 6-4 at the 2019 Charleston Open.

Parks may be the lower-ranked player but she will fancy her chances against Kalinina. The 22-year-old will enter the Linz Open brimming with confidence and a long run in the WTA 250 event seems forthcoming.