The slow surface of the Ostrava arena did not suit the Ace Queen, but the vital American shone. She went out to enjoy the match, playing completely uninhibited, beating Pliskova 6-0 in the first set. "She was firing it, she was serving well and there was nowhere for myself to catcha a break," said Karolina Pliskova of her opponent's excellent performance.
Underlined by the numbers, Alycia Parks won symbolically 6:0 on aces. She added 35 winning shots compared to only six from Pliskova. The American's aggressive style just worked. During important moments, Alycia often looked towards the roof of the arena and pointed her hand up. "I was thanking God the whole time that I could be here and that I could even play tennis at this level. I am eternally grateful to Him," she admitted almost in tears after the match in which she knocked out one of the tournament's main favourites.
"Yes, it's definitely my biggest win, it's the first time I've beaten a player from the world's top 20," she added with emotion. She had recorded only three wins in the main tournaments on the WTA circuit before and this year's attempts to play Grand Slam tournaments ended, with the exception of the Australian Open, in the first round of qualifying. In Melbourne, Parks advanced to the second round.
She also had to qualify in Ostrava. Her matches against Oksana Selechmetyeva and Anna Lena Friedham started in the morning, so the weekend was an early wake-up call. "Every day here I was up around seven in the morning. But today I didn't get up until 11:00. I felt confident after the qualifying matches," said Alycia Parks. Not to be outdone, she heaped a total of 21 aces on her opponents in the preliminary round and when combined with six more against Pliskova, her provisional balance stopped at number 27.
Where can you learn such a great service? "It's quite natural for me, I think, but otherwise maybe I owe it to my dad. He tells me it's kind of like a dance, like one, two. That stuck in my mind. Yes, he taught me the right rhythm," she thanked her father Michael, who has been with her throughout her career.
By the way, even though Alycia has played only one match at Grand Slam tournaments so far, she holds the women's record for speed of serve. Last year at the US Open she shot her serve at 129 miles per hour (207.6 km/h).
The Ostrava performance of the young American against Karolina Pliskova may be a harbinger of an interesting future for her. The next challenge for Alicia Parks will be Maria Sakkari of Greece in the second round.
