Alycia Parks qualifies for 2023 Australian Open following maiden WTA 125k title and Top 100 debut

Rising American tennis talent Alycia Parks made her top 100 debut on Monday after winning her maiden singles title at the WTA level this weekend.

The 21-year-old, who started the week at no. 134 in the rankings, won the Andorra Open - a WTA 125k event - on Sunday after a 6-1 6-4 win over Rebecca Peterson in the final.By breaking into the top 100, Parks will enter the singles main draw of the 2023 Australian Open next month.

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The American, who is known for her big serve and aggressive game, smashed 30 winners, including 10 aces, in Sunday's final in Andorra. She also beat former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3 in the quarterfinals, Linda Noskova in the first round 7-6(5) 2-6 6-2, and Oceane Dodin 6-3 7-6(6) in the second round.

Earlier this season, Parks gave glimpses of her ability on the big stage, beating the likes of former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sakkari en route to the Ostrava Open quarterfinals. The win against Sakkari was her maiden singles top-10 win. She eventually lost to 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the last-eight stage.

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Parks also won the Ostrava Open doubles title with fellow American Caty McNally for her maiden title at the WTA level. She is already an accomplished doubles player, ending the season at no. 69 in the WTA doubles rankings.

In singles, Parks had won just the solitary ITF title in Orlando a couple of years ago, before winning the Andorra Open this Sunday. The new World No. 100 began the 2022 season outside the top 200 in the singles rankings.