Alycia Parks’ story of success in tennis is one rooted in family sacrifice. The 22-year-old is currently ranked 40th on the WTA tour. Last year, Parks won the biggest career title at the Crèdit Andorrà Open to break into the Top 100 for the first time.
Before her breakout moment came the struggle: training on faith with the support of her parents, which kept hope alive for her then-speculative tennis career.
“When I picked up a racket I always wanted to play pro, so my parents were like — obviously they saw the potential and they sacrificed a lot,” Parks said, per Sportskeeda Tennis. “My mom worked in downtown Atlanta and she was like, if this is something you guys really want to do, then I’m going to support you. You need to be 100 percent focused on this,” she added.
The Long Road To Success
It was a deal that meant Parks had to be all in because her parents were about to show her how committed they were. In describing her parent’s bullish dedication, her mother would jump in the car when necessary to ensure she attended tournaments within reach. Additionally, the most important part for any child emerging into adulthood is how would she survive financially in a business with no guarantees of success.
Parks didn’t have to look far for the answer.
“For most of my career my parents have supported me, especially financially,” Parks continued. “They didn’t really have too much help.”
Cue the dogged vision of Richard Williams for his two daughters, Venus and Serena. When the tennis courts of Compton, California, weren’t enough, he knew to seek other arrangements and took his daughters to Florida to train. Hindsight is 20/20, but back then most wouldn’t have. He believed that the move would forever change the game of tennis.
Venus and Serena would translate their tennis savant status into lucrative careers that both elevated the game and challenged the status quo of the country club branding of the sport. One Williams sister, in particular, inspired Alycia Parks to pursue her dream so it is no wonder that the path and the early results are similar.
When asked by WTA who was her idol growing up, Parks looked no further than the woman now considered the greatest tennis player ever.
“It was definitely Serena Williams just because she’s the GOAT at tennis and, everything that she does, she has a purpose with it,” Parks said during a Get to Know: Alycia Parks WTA video.
The Florida Factor
As Parks’ talent developed, more opportunities came but not necessarily local to her native Atlanta. Like many tennis prodigies, Florida is the promised land for an increased tennis acumen, and it came calling for Alycia.
“I just remember my parents said USTA gave them a call and they kind of scouted me and my sister in a tournament, and they wanted us to move down to Florida and train at the USTA National Tennis Campus,” Parks continued per Sportskeeda Tennis.
The bigger tennis associations advised Parks to come to Florida, where she could incubate her talents much like Venus and Serena did in their youth. The move presented challenges as Parks would have to leave her close friendships in Georgia, and her dad “basically made an R.V. from scratch.”
“He built shelves and cabinets in there and put in a toilet. He called it a tour bus. I just remember traveling to tournaments, going 16 hours away, and if it rained, then water was dripping in there,” Parks continued. “On our way back from a tournament, the AC went out, and it was summertime, so those times were not fun.”
No air conditioning in Florida heat? Talk about by any means necessary, but that was then.
Her maiden tour-level victory came this year in Lyon, France, where she shocked top seed Caroline Garcia in the final and had four-time Olympian and four-time Grand Slam doubles winner Rennae Stubbs comparing Parks’ serve to “peak Serena Williams.”
“Her serve is, it’s like peak Serena, that’s how good her serve is when it goes in,” Garcia said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. “She has every power tool in the world and, without question, can be a Grand Slam champion one day if she keeps putting the work in.”
She has won one of her 21 tournaments over the past 12 months, with an overall match record of 20-20. Parks has played 40 matches and 22.4 games per match across all court types over the past 12 months. She also has a mean serve, winning 70.4% of her games on serve and 25.1% on return.
The struggle was real, but the sacrifice paid off, and Parks is living her athletic dreams. Like Richard Williams, father to Venus and Serena Williams, and many other parents, Alycia Parks is a product of the determination and support of those who genuinely love her.