Alycia Michelle Parks (born December 31, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 40, achieved on 14 August 2023, and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 27, set on 11 September 2023.[2]
Career
2021: WTA Tour & Grand Slam debut, fastest serve record
She made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2021 MUSC Health Open in Charleston, having made it through qualifying as an alternate. She defeated qualifier Grace Min in the first round, before losing to top seed Ons Jabeur in the second.
In her first-round match at the US Open, she tied the record by Venus Williams for the fastest serve by a woman[3] that the tournament had ever recorded (129 mph).
2022: Breakthrough, top-10 win & first doubles title, top 75
In 2022, she made her sixth career main-draw appearance advancing to the second round of the German Open in Berlin as a qualifier. As a result, she climbed to a career-high, up 34 spots from 169 to No. 135, on 20 June 2022.[4]
Ranked No. 144 at the Ostrava Open, she defeated as a qualifier former world No. 1, Karolína Plíšková, for her first top-20 win[5] and followed that by defeating world No. 7 and fourth seed, Maria Sakkari, for her first top-10 win to reach her first ever WTA quarterfinal.[6] At the same tournament in doubles, she won her maiden WTA Tour title, partnering Caty McNally.[7]
In December, Parks won back-to-back WTA Challenger singles titles in Andorrà[8] and Angers,[9] the latter of which she also claimed the doubles title at alongside Zhang Shuai.[9] As a result of these successes, she reached the top 75 in singles and top 60 in doubles.[citation needed]
2023: WTA Tour title & top-5 win, top 40 in singles & doubles, WTA 1000 doubles title
At the Lyon Open she reached her first WTA semifinal defeating Julia Grabher,[13] fourth seed Petra Martić[14][15] and seventh seeded Danka Kovinić.[16][17] She defeated Maryna Zanevska to reach her first WTA Tour final.[18] Next, she defeated top seed Caroline Garcia, recording her first top-5 win, to claim her maiden career title.[19] As a result, she moved to new career-highs in the top 50, in doubles of No. 43 on 13 February 2023, and in singles of No. 50 on 27 February 2023.[2]
2024: Australian Open third round, back to top 100
At the Australian Open, Parks reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career with wins over Daria Snigur[30] and 32nd seed Leylah Fernandez,[31] before being eliminated in the third round by fourth seed Coco Gauff in straight sets.[32] Despite this result, she fell out of the top 100 on 5 February 2024, not being able to defend her points from the Lyon Open which was cancelled in the 2024 season.[2]
In July, she won her second WTA 125 title for the season at the Polish Open, defeating fifth seed Maya Joint in the final.[36] As a result, she moved 22 positions up on 29 July and a week later to No. 99.[2]
At the WTA 1000 China Open she qualified and recorded her first main-draw win at a WTA Tour level since January, at the Australian Open, over Wang Qiang,[37] before losing to 23rd seed Magdalena Fręch in the second round.[38]
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[52][53]
^ abThe first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009 until 2024. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
^2017: WTA ranking–1208, 2018: WTA ranking–984, 2019: WTA ranking–410, 2020: WTA ranking–364.