The name of Alycia Parks She is one of the loudest players at the end of the season, a player who at 21 has managed to break into the top 100 for the first time thanks to her latest results. Trained by her father, with the figure of Serena Williams as references and a Christian faith that always accompanies her on the track, the native of Atlanta looks to the future with optimism, to the point of reaching the top 10 in 2023. It seems like an affirmation too risky, but all of us who have seen her play know that she is capable of that and more. Do you want to know her a little more? the companions of the WTA They have taken it upon themselves to talk to her and extract a detailed X-ray.
From less to more this season
“I set myself a goal earlier this year to be in the top 100 by the time summer rolled around, although it took me a bit longer in the end. I gave it an extra push at the Midland tournament, which was supposed to be my last event of the season, where I came very close to breaking into the top 100 for the first time, but then lost 89 points. At that moment I set out to go back up, I bet to travel abroad and give one last push to overcome that barrier of the top hundred before the Australian Open draw closed ”
Ostrava, the turning point
“Usually when things start to get tough for me, I know something good is coming. It means that God is testing me. When I went to play in Ostrava I was at peace and when I am at peace is when my mind is clear. Something clicked for me that week, I loved the feeling of seeing myself play that way in Ostrava, so I decided to remember those moments for the future. I took those games to take them to other tournaments later.
Beginnings in tennis
“In elementary school I got all A’s and my father always rewarded us by taking us to the toy store. I remember that it took me an hour to choose what I wanted, so my mother told me that if she didn’t choose me, she would choose it for me. When she looked down, she saw two tennis rackets with three balls. I knew my sister and I liked to run outside, and we also had a track near our neighborhood. She took us to that track and left us playing, until she ended up calling my dad to say, ‘I think they’re pretty good.’
Skipped junior stage
“Since I was seven years old I have wanted to become a professional, since I hit a ball for the first time, it was at that moment that I knew that I was good at it, that I wanted to dedicate myself to this. We decided not to play the junior circuit because I always had knee problems, my father wanted to prevent injuries, so we focused on training to get to the professional circuit. That’s what we did and this is where I am now.”
the role of his sister
“My sister also played, so we pushed each other, we didn’t pay attention to the rest of the tennis players because we were always competing with each other. When you have a sister that you always want to beat, or vice versa, it’s a different element when it comes to finding motivation. So the day I came on tour and found myself among the pros, it wasn’t a big surprise to me.”
Link to the Williams sisters
“When I saw King Richard, there were a lot of scenes that were incredibly familiar to me. We also did it that way, it was very strange because many experiences of the Williams sisters are quite similar to ours. At a US Open I had the privilege of rallying with them, a great experience. Especially with Serena, she is the best of all time, it is impossible not to admire her. She is literally tennis.”
A career sustained in faith
“I would say this season has been ‘me against me.’ I always put the hashtag #WalkByFaith on Instagram. For example, last week the USTA gave Caty Mcnally a WC for the Australian Open, but she has now finished top 100 and no longer needs it. I was two points behind Taylor Townsend to receive it, so something told me that I had to watch Europe to keep competing. I made the semifinals at the Ciudad de Valencia Open and then I won in Andorra. Maybe that’s why God didn’t allow me to win in Valencia, because he saw that I already had ITF titles, so next time he would make me win a WTA 125K, something I had never achieved. That’s how I saw it, when I mean walking on faith, I mean things like that.”
Goals for 2023
“If I keep playing like the way I feel right now, I should go through the frames pretty freely. I see myself in the top 10 next year, I know it’s pretty high, but it’s definitely doable. Being top10 in 2023 is a goal for me. I hope I get a chance to play in the main draws, even though we all know how hard it is to get through a qualifier. That is what excites me the most, when I am rested I know that it is very difficult to stop”.
