Tennis

Lyon Open: Caroline Garcia to take on in-form Alycia Parks in title round

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Caroline Garcia and Alycia Parks will play each other in the Lyon Open final. Both players won their respective semi-finals on Saturday in straight sets.

Garcia, the top-seeded player in the tournament defeated Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-2 in 72 minutes. The Frenchwoman saved all four break-points she faced and converted four of the five break points she had on the Colombian’s serve. She also hit 24 winners across the match, of which seven were aces.

Post-match, Garcia said, “Definitely a good match, very solid from my side. Every day I feel more comfortable and enjoying more the atmosphere at home. It’s a privilege and a chance to be able to play a final in France, and a final in my own town. I arrived to play my game, to be very accurate from the beginning. It’s one of the most important weapons in my game and I have to keep improving on that. (Osorio is) a tough opponent, she’s moving very well through the court. I had some tough moments, but I was able to go past (them).

This is the first time Garcia’s reached the final in Lyon.

Lyon Open: Alycia Parks’ maiden accomplishment

Meanwhile, Parks beat Maryna Zanevska 6-3, 7-6(4) after almost two hours of play. Parks had 13 aces and seven double faults in the match. In the second set, Parks served for the match in the 10th game and also had two match points but wasn’t able to convert. In the 12th game, the 22-year-old thwarted two set points to push the match into the tie-break before eventually securing the win for herself.

Following the result, the American shared, “I think the key was just staying focused, and taking my time out there. Every time I got ahead of myself, I would kind of lose points, so I would tell myself to slow down. This whole week, I’m kind of relaxed this week, and just kept playing my game and doing me.”

The Lyon Open final’s the first time Alycia Parks’ reached a WTA final. This will, however, be the second time she’ll face Caroline Garcia. The world no. 5 won the only previous time they played each other in the qualifying round of the 2021 Cincinnati Open.

Photo Credit: Caroline Garcia Twitter

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