The pre-tournament favorite Caroline Garcia faces an upbeat Alycia Parks in the finals of the 2023 Lyon Open on Sunday.
Caroline Garcia
On expected lines, Caroline Garcia has made her way into the finals. However, she has not been the dominant force that she usually is. The 29-year-old has played much better as the tournament has gone on. Garcia had a stellar season last year. She won 4 titles that included the WTA Finals as well.
Garcia started the new season with a win against Nadia Podoroska in the United Cup. She also defeated Petra Martic in the competition. In the Adelaide International 2, Garcia lost in the quarterfinals to Belinda Bencic after getting past Katerina Siniakova in the round of 16. At the Australian Open, tennis fans expected Garcia to be a strong contender. However, she could only equal her best result at the Australian Open and crashed out in the fourth round. She lost to eventual semifinalist Magda Linette of Poland.
In the Lyon Open, the world No. 5 began with a hard-fought win against Tereza Martincova. The match was decided in two competitive sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). In the round of 16, Garcia squared off against Alison Van Uytvanck. The Belgian veteran outplayed Garcia in the first set but the latter made a strong comeback to win the match 2-6, 6-0, 6-1. The quarterfinals saw Garcia take on Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. The match was quite competitive but Garcia served pretty well and Paolini found it hard to counter. The 2-time Grand Slam champion in doubles won the match 7-5, 7-5. Garcia played brilliantly in the semifinal against Camila Osorio. She fired in 7 aces and had a win percentage of 80 on the first serve. The lopsided encounter ended 6-2, 6-2.
Alycia Parks
The 22-year-old had a fabulous end to last season. She won two WTA 125 events in Andorra and Angers. In Angers, Parks also won the doubles event alongside Zhang Shuai.
In the Australian Open, Parks could not impress as she lost in the second round of qualifying against Sara Bejlek after defeating Alexandra Bozovic in the first round. Both matches saw Parks commit a total of 21 double faults.
In the round of 32 of the Lyon Open, the American youngster got the better of Julia Grabher in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Parks fired in 7 aces but also had 8 double faults against her name. In the round of 16, she took the number of aces to 12 against the experienced Petra Martic and came back after dropping the first set. The match ended 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. The hard-hitting Parks eased past 7th seed Danka Kovinic in the quarterfinals with the score 7-5, 6-2, converting 4 out of 5 break points. The world No. 79 went on to face Belgian veteran Maryna Zanevska in the semifinals. The first set was a one-sided affair as Parks won 6-3. In the second set, Zanevska fought hard but lost in the tiebreak. The match ended 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). In this match, Parks accumulated 13 aces, taking her total number of aces to 37 throughout the competition.
Head-to-Head and Prediction
The two players faced each other only once before. It was in the qualifiers of the Western & Southern Open in 2021. The match was won by the experienced Garcia in three sets.
Prediction: Caroline Garcia to win in three sets.
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