Parks to chase maiden WTA title in Lyon final
Alycia Parks will compete in her first WTA singles final after setting up a showdown against top seed Caroline Garcia at the Lyon Open.
American Parks beat Maryna Zanevska 6-3 7-6 (7-4), hitting 35 winners and 13 aces on the way to victory.
The 22-year-old Parks has risen through the ranks in the past 12 months and explained how a laid-back attitude has been the secret to her success at the WTA 250 event in France.
"I think the key was just staying focused and taking my time out there," Parks said after her win.
"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."
Parks will face Garcia on Monday (AEDT) after the French world number five eased to a 6-2 6-2 win against Camila Osorio in just an hour and 12 minutes.
At the Thailand Open, Lesia Tsurenko will take on China's Zhu Lin in the final after the Ukrainian overcame top seed Bianca Andreescu.
The Canadian retired hurt in the second set with Tsurenko leading 7-5 4-0.
"The way [Andreescu was] playing every point like she has an idea in every point, so of course, she's an amazing player," Tsurenko said.
"It was a big challenge for me to handle this and I was just saying to myself that I have to keep fighting, and this is probably the main key that worked today for me."
Zhu defeated compatriot Xinyu Wang 6-2 6-4 in their semi-final.
