Linz Open 2023: Alycia Parks vs Anhelina Kalinina preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: Alycia Parks vs (4) Anhelina Kalinina.
Date: February 8, 2023.
Tournament: Linz Open 2023.
Round: First Round (Round of 32).
Venue: TipsArena Linz, Austria.
Category: WTA 250.
Surface: Indoor Hardcourt.
Prize money: $259,303.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Alycia Parks vs Anhelina Kalinina preview
Fourth seed Anhelina Kalinina will square off against recently crowned Lyon Open champion Alycia Parks in the first round of the Linz Open on Wednesday.
Parks, 22, has emerged as one of the finest young talents on the WTA tour. At the 2021 US Open, the Atlanta-born player came into the spotlight after tying Venus Williams' record for the fastest serve (129mph) recorded by a woman at the event.
Parks has been making rapid strides on the tour. At the WTA 500 tournament in Berlin last year, she made it to the Round of 16 as a qualifier. She followed it up with a run to the quarterfinals of yet another WTA 500 competition in Ostrava after starting her campaign in the qualifying rounds.
Towards the end of the 2022 season, Parks cut her ranking in half to make the top 75 after clinching back-to-back titles at two WTA 125 events.
Although she bowed out in the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open earlier this year, Parks bounced back in spectacular fashion in her very next tournament. She won five matches in a row, including a victory over top seed and World No. 5 Caroline Garcia to lift her maiden WTA singles trophy in Lyon.
The achievement propelled the youngster to a career-best world ranking of 51.
Anhelina Kalinina had a prolific career in juniors, winning the Australian Open doubles title and finishing as the runner-up at the US Open in singles. However, her transition to the senior circuit has been slower than expected.
In 2021, she made it to the final of the Budapest Grand Prix before losing to Yulia Putintseva. That remains her only tour-level final appearance so far.
The following year, she made the Round of 16 in Miami and the quarterfinals in Charleston, Madrid, Eastbourne, and Cluj-Napoca to firmly establish herself on the circuit. Kalinina then finished off her stellar 2022 season with a WTA 125 title at Limoges.
She began the 2023 season with a last-eight appearance in Hobart before putting together her best-ever Grand Slam showing by reaching the third round in Melbourne.
Currently perched at a career-high ranking of 31, Kalinina will be keen to build on her early-season momentum.
Alycia Parks vs Anhelina Kalinina head-to-head
Kalinina has a 1-0 lead over Parks in their head-to-head. The Ukrainian secured a 6-2, 6-4 win over Parks at Charleston in 2019.
Alycia Parks vs Anhelina Kalinina odds
(Odds will be updated once they are available)
Alycia Parks vs Anhelina Kalinina prediction
A lot has changed since the two players last met. Although Anhelina Kalinina comes into this contest as the more experienced player, Alycia Parks will have sky-high confidence following her heroics in Lyon.
The indoor hardcourt in Linz should be tailor-made for the American youngster's game. She has an excellent first serve and powerful groundstrokes off both wings. Having dismantled a potent server like Caroline Garcia with ease last week, she should be raring to go against Kalinina.
Kalinina, on the other hand, is a solid baseliner, with her backhand being her major weapon. To have any chance against Parks, the Ukrainian needs to consistently attack her second serve and force her to move all over the court. Given the speed of the court, that could be a challenge.
Unless Parks is fatigued after her Lyon exploits, she should be able to come through.
Pick: Alycia Parks to win in straight sets.