Wikipedia - Alycia Parks
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 WTA doubles ranking of No. 27, set on 11 September 2023.
History
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 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.
Ranked No. 144 at the Ostrava Open, she defeated as a qualifier former world No. 1, Karolína Plíšková, for her first top-20 win 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. At the same tournament in doubles, she won her maiden WTA Tour title, partnering Caty McNally. As a result, she made her top 125 debut in singles and top 100 debut in doubles, at No. 79 on 10 October 2022.
In December, she reached the top 75 in singles and top 60 in doubles following two back-to-back WTA Challenger singles titles and one in doubles.
2023: First WTA title & top-5 win, top 40 in singles & doubles, WTA 1000 doubles title
As the top seed in the qualifying draw at the 2023 Australian Open, she lost in the second round to Sára Bejlek. At the same tournament Parks reached the third round in doubles on her debut at this major, partnering with Oksana Kalashnikova. They lost to eventual champions, Barbora Krejčíková and Katerina Siniaková.
At the Lyon Open she reached her first WTA semifinal defeating Julia Grabher, fourth seeded Petra Martić and seventh seeded Danka Kovinić. She defeated Maryna Zanevska to reach her first WTA Tour final. Next, she defeated top seed Caroline Garcia, recording her first top-5 win, to claim her maiden WTA Tour title. 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. At the Madrid Open, she defeated 15th seed Viktoria Azarenka, in straight sets, to move into the third round for the first time at a WTA 1000 level.
She reached her second WTA Tour doubles final in Birmingham with Storm Hunter. She reached the second round of Wimbledon before losing to Ana Bogdan. Parks also reached the second rounds of the Canadian Open, losing to Belinda Bencic, and in Cincinnati, losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
In doubles in Cincinnati, Parks paired with Taylor Townsend for the first time. Parks and Townsend won the title, defeating Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the final.
2024: Major third round, out of 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 and 32nd seed Leylah Fernandez, before being eliminated in the third round by fourth-seeded Coco Gauff, in straight sets. Despite this result, she fell out of the top 100 on 5 February 2024, not being able to defend her points from the WTA Lyon Open which was cancelled in the 2024 season.
At the 2024 Miami Open she reached the semifinals with Asia Muhammad before losing to second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. As a result she returned to the top 30 at No. 29 in the doubles rankings on 1 April 2024.