Alycia Parks, Lin Zhu Win First Singles Titles In WTA
At the Open 6eme Sens Metropole on Sunday in Lyon, France, Alycia Parks defeated No. 1 seed Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7), 7-5, to claim her maiden WTA singles championship. Parks, a 22-year-old Georgia native who had impressive power with 15 aces, won his first match against a top-5 player. On 85% of her first serves, she won the point, and she avoided all four break points. Garcia, the No. 5 player in the world, was competing in her home nation and going for her 12th career victory. Until championship point, when she double flubbed on the match's final break point, she converted 80% of her first serves into points and held off two break points.
Thailand Open:
Another rookie on the WTA circuit, Lin Zhu of China defeated Lesia Tsurenko in Hua Hin by scores of 6-4 and 6-4. Zhu, 29, defeated the Ukrainian in one hour and 45 minutes. She had a solid start to the 2023 season before the match; she advanced to the semifinals of the Auckland tournament and the fourth round of the Australian Open. This week, she will get into the top 50 in the rankings. In terms of service, neither athlete was performing at her best. Tsurenko only converted 38% of her first serves into points, compared to 52% for Zhu. And despite having 23 break points available throughout the course of the game, Zhu only managed to save eight of the fourteen of them.Tsurenko, who was once rated No. 23 in the world, has not played in a final until this year because of injuries.
