Rising American tennis star Alycia Parks says Serena Williams is “literally tennis” and admitted it was an honor for her to hit with the Williams sisters at this past US Open. Parks, 21, claimed the biggest title of her career after beating Rebecca Peterson in the final of last week’s WTA 125 event in Andorra.
Parks, who stunned Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sakkari in Ostrava two months ago, has reached a career-high ranking of No 100 in the world following her Andorra triumph. “When I watched King Richard, there were a lot of scenes [that felt familiar].
We kind of did it that way too. It was so weird because it was so similar. It felt good at the US Open that I got to hit with both of them. Serena especially, because I look up to Serena. She’s the GOAT of tennis. What can you do besides look up to her? She’s literally tennis,” Parks said.
Like Williams, Parks didn’t go the junior route
Like the Williams sisters, Parks also decided against going the junior route. Parks, who will be turning 22 later this month, used to regularly compete against her sister Mikayla.
Having someone to regularly compete against helped Parks get prepared for the life on the Tour. “We didn’t do the junior route because at the time, I was growing throughout juniors. I would always have knee problems and my dad wanted to prevent injuries.
Just train and get ready for the pros. So that’s what we did and here I am now. My sister also played, so we pushed each other. We didn’t go based off the competition that was out there because we were always competing with each other.
When you have a sister that you always want to beat and vice versa, I think that puts you in a different element. So when I got on tour and the pros, [the level] wasn’t really a surprise,” Parks explained. Parks is now a top-100 player and she will certainly be aiming to continue her rise in 2023.
