Chris Evert praises Alycia Parks for 'great perspective' after Victoria Azarenka win in Madrid Open
Chris Evert was in complete agreement with Alycia Parks' perspective on victories and defeats, lauding the rising American tennis star for her words. Parks, who has struggled for form of late after winning her maiden WTA title in February, beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 7-6(5) on Friday to move into the third round of the 2023 Madrid Open.
After recording one of the biggest wins of her young career and reaching the third round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time, Parks revealed quite a mature approach towards winning and losing.
The 22-year-old suggested that she does not let losses affect her too deeply, but cherishes each win, particularly when she is experiencing a rough patch in her career.
"Wins obviously really give you confidence when you had a little rough losing patch. So each win, I put it in my pocket. Each loss, I put it in my back pocket and get rid of it," Alycia Parks said in an interview with WTA Insider.
Reacting to Parks' words, Evert was quite impressed with the young player's views.
"I love that! Great perspective," Evert wrote on Twitter.
I love that! Great perspective… twitter.com/wta_insider/st…
Parks won the Lyon Open in February for her maiden tour-level title, beating the likes of Petra Martic, Danka Kovinic, and Caroline Garcia (final) en route to the title. She won only two matches since then, ahead of the start of the Madrid Open. Before her win over Azarenka, Parks beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the first round in Madrid.
"I just look at them all the same" - Alycia Parks on her opponents on tour
Alycia Parks' win over Victoria Azarenka was her fourth consecutive victory over a Top-20 opponent, having previously secured wins over Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari, and Caroline Garcia. For Parks, playing a much higher-ranked opponent is not a cause for concern as she treats each opponent the same way. Parks said that she does not focus on her opponents' past achievements when facing them.
"Every opponent, I just look at them all the same," Parks said on the same. "I don't think about their ranking or what they achieved. I just go out there and play them as if I was playing someone 1000 in the world or someone with no ranking."
Parks was ranked outside the Top-160 in the WTA rankings just a year ago and is currently ranked No. 54. She is in the Top-5 for most aces this season, having already hit 131 aces in 2023.