Alycia Parks admitted she was in disbelief after stunning top-seeded Caroline Garcia for her first WTA title in Lyon. Parks, 22, upset home favorite Garcia 7-6 (7) 7-5 in the Lyon final. Parks – who was competing in the ITF and Challenger level tournaments last year – clinched her first top-5 win by beating Garcia.
“It feels amazing to hold my first WTA tour-level championship trophy. Words can’t explain. Just last year, I was in an [ITF Challenger] $60,000 final, and now I have won a WTA 250,” Parks said after beating Garcia, per the WTA website.
Going into the Lyon final, 2022 WTA Finals champion Garcia was the favorite to end on the winning side. But Parks came out playing with courage and ended up winning her first WTA title. “I made sure I focused on my service games today to get through the match, because I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match.
So just staying within myself, and fighting for every point, and that got me through the match,” Parks reflected.
How Parks defeated Garcia
The only break points of the first set were seen in the third game, when Garcia saved a break point.
In the first-set tie-break, Parks won the 11th point to take a 6-5 lead and earn her first set point. Facing a set point, Garcia won the next two points to take a 7-6 lead and…
