Alycia Parks has recently made the headlines with her striking performance at the Lyon Open. Parks is not just revamping the idea of WTA superstars but also carving out an identity for herself. With such a brilliant forehand, she is sure to be the contender for every Slam she participates in. However, she had once challenged the undefeatable Serena Williams herself!
In what is a lesser-known story about Parks, Rennae Stubbs talks about the time Parks took down Serena Williams’ confidence. For such a young player, and especially one that is a Serena fan, breaking Serena down in a practice match- takes not just a composed mind, but also determination. In her recent podcast with Caitlin Thompson, Rennae Stubbs talks about Serena’s worst practice ever!
Rennae Stubbs witnesses Alycia Parks in Serena Williams’ “worst practice ever”
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Stubbs talks about a time before the US Open 2022. Now, while most Serena fans remember it as the unfortunate event where she decided to rest her racket for good, Stubbs remembers it for a different reason. It is here that Stubbs first saw Alycia Parks after hearing great things about her- “big game and big serve”. Back in the time, Stubbs was coaching Williams and wanted her to play practice matches.
On the podcast, The South Got Something to Say, Stubbs tells Caitlin, “Before the US Open last year, I wanted Serena to play practice sets against as many people as possible… Something she has never done in the past”. Stubbs wanted to emulate the real match time tension for the Queen of the Court and see how she fared. Serena played practice sets with several players during the time like- Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari and Sofia Kenin.
Meanwhile, Eric Hechtman, who was in charge of the practice matches, brought up Alycia Parks one day. He told Stubbs, “I’ve got this girl Alycia Parks tomorrow…Young American,she lost in quallies, good player, big game…she’ll do whatever Serena wants her to do.”
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What happened after that was totally unexpected. On a day when Serena was already feeling low due to her dog’s death, Parks hit her left, right and centre on the court. Now reminiscing about the practice, Stubbs says, “She [Serena] is getting spanked by Alycia. She was aceing like 120 miles an hour – T serves, out wide.”
Unable to control her shock, she says, “I’m like ‘what the fuck!'”
Talking about how this was Serena’s “worst practice” match, Stubbs admires how cool Parks was standing opposite her idol. She was playing like there was absolutely no pressure on her.
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After defeating top seed Caroline Garcia in the Lyon Open, this unheard Alycia Parks story has instantly become a fan favorite.
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