Canadian Open 2023: Belinda Bencic vs Alycia Parks preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (12) Belinda Bencic vs (Q) Alycia Parks
Date: August 9, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Montreal, Canada
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Belinda Bencic vs Alycia Parks preview
Belinda Bencic and Alycia Parks will battle it out in the second round of the 2023 Canadian Open on Wednesday.
Bencic commenced her challenge in Montreal against World No. 69 Lucia Bronzetti. The Swiss broke her opponent's serve twice in the first set as she raced to a 4-0 lead. However, she dropped the next couple of games as her opponent started to push back.
Bencic got back on track by claiming the next two games to take the set. After being on even footing for most of the second set, the Swiss swept the last three games of the match to win 6-2, 6-3.
Parks, meanwhile, moved past Marina Stakusic and Cristina Bucsa in the qualifying rounds to set up a first-round date with fellow American Lauren Davis. The 22-year-old trailed by a break twice in the first set, but fought back to level the score on each occasion.
With Davis serving at 6-5 to force a tie-break, Parks broke her serve to clinch the set. The former jumped to a 5-2 lead in the second set and while she failed to close out the set on her first go, she got the job done on her next attempt.
Parks raised her level in the third set. While she let go of four break points early on in the third set, she didn't repeat the mistake later on. The young American reeled off four games in a row to wrap up a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory and make a winning main-draw debut at the Canadian Open.
Belinda Bencic vs Alycia Parks head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Belinda Bencic vs Alycia Parks odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Belinda Bencic vs Alycia Parks prediction
While Bencic cruised to a routine victory over Bronzetti, Parks was tested by Davis before coming out on top in another challenging encounter. The American hit 15 aces, but negated some of that advantage by throwing in eight double faults.
Go big or go home is Parks' motto. Armed with a massive serve and equally powerful groundstrokes to boot, she's not the type to slow down in a match; it's just all-out relentless attack. As such, she racks up plenty of errors, but on a good day, she's able to balance it out or even surpass it by hitting more winners.
Bencic's game is relatively more cleaner and consistent. She's a pretty decent tactican and could put Parks in a difficult position by taking time away from her as the Swiss likes to hit the ball early. As the American's level varies throughout the match, one can bet on the 26-year-old to advance further.
Pick: Belinda Bencic to win in straight sets.