Rising star Alycia Parks survives against Grabher in Lyon

Alycia Parks broke through into the top 100 thanks to a strong run through the indoor hard court challengers at the end of the year and her return to these conditions was victorious.

Parks played her first match in Lyon yesterday in the doubles with Zhang and they proved victorious but both that match and this one went to three sets. Parks is a very streaky player and quite aggressive so her game will always be up and down unless she finds a good rhythm which will take some time.

This is her first singles match, so she struggled a bit despite playing a pretty decent match. The first set went 6-3 to Parks, who was the better player in that set. She served better and played better despite being broken once as well. The second set went 7-5 to Grabher who played a superb set of tennis. She was almost unbeatable in that set not allowing any chances against Parks and beating her 7-5.

The final set was a good one between the players. Both had good and bad moments but ultimately Parks handled her service games a bit better which proved key in the 6-4 win. A good win for Parks who continues to thrive in the indoors conditions of Europe.