American youngster Alycia Parks will take on the experienced Chinese player Wang Qiang in the first round (R128) of the China Open. Qiang has already announced that she will retire from the Hologic WTA Tour at the end of the 2024 season. Parks has struggled a bit with her consistency this season. Can the former world number 12 make full use of this and come up with a fruitful result in the first round on her home soil?

Alycia Parks vs Wang Qiang: Preview

Alycia Parks has won two tournaments this year. The first was the WTA 125K Gaiba, IT, and the second one came at the WTA 125K Warsaw, PL. She has won both of her qualifiers at the China Open and has yet to drop a set in this tournament. Parks defeated Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in the second qualifier by a 7-6(5), 6-4 scoreline. Can she come up with a similarly dominant performance in her third match of this tournament?

Wang Qiang won the ITF China 03A tournament this year, and she has played her best on home soil this season. However, she was forced to give a walkover to Russia’s Daria Kudashova in her quarterfinal match at the ITF China 18A. Is she 100% fit for this match against Parks? Well, that’s the biggest question at the moment!

Parks vs Qiang: Head-to-Head

Alycia Parks has never faced Wang Qiang in her career before, making this contest even more interesting. On one hand, we have the experience of the Chinese player, while on the other, there’s the promising American. Fasten your seatbelts for this blockbuster show in Beijing!

Prediction: Parks to win in straight sets

Wang Qiang loves playing on hard courts and even reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2019. If we look at their records in this tournament, Alycia Parks only managed to reach the first round in 2023, but Qiang made it to the semifinals in the 2018 season. Despite these records favoring the Chinese player, why are we predicting Parks to win this contest? Well, Parks has played some big tournaments this year and gained experience playing against some of the best in the business. So, while Qiang may have the edge in overall experience, Parks has played a greater number of significant matches this season.

Apart from that, Wang Qiang’s struggles with injuries have played a major role in this prediction. Looking at their rankings and win-loss records: Alycia Parks is currently ranked 128th in the world and has a win-loss record of 2-7 on the main tour, while Qiang is ranked 403rd and has a record of 0-3 on the main tour. These factors give Parks an edge in this match.

If we look at their playing styles, Alycia Parks’ game is more power-based. She loves to dominate her matches with her big serves and can generate a good pace with her unique style. Parks also has excellent court coverage. However, her biggest strength is her ability to generate power behind her serves and groundstrokes. On the downside, she struggles with high double-fault counts. She has hit 39 aces this season but committed 75 double faults so far. Even in her last match, she committed 9 double faults against Korpatsch. This is something she needs to keep an eye on in this match.

Wang Qiang, on the other hand, has a very uncomplicated style of play. She has solid groundstrokes off both wings, which she uses to stay in points long enough to force errors from her opponents. Qiang’s speed and flat hitting from the baseline could make things tougher for Alycia Parks in this match. However, apart from these factors, the American shouldn’t face too many problems in sealing the deal.