Serena Williams' former hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins coaches Alycia Parks in Indian Wells
Former player and Serena Williams' ex-hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins was seen coaching Alycia Parks in Indian Wells.
Jenkins' tennis career was far from notable as hig biggest achievement was being a finalist in the Boys' Doubles event at the 2006 US Open. He never made it to the main draw of any of the four Grand Slams in his senior career and his best singles ranking was 190.
Jenkins retired from tennis in 2017 and became Serena Williams' hitting partner later that year. He was the 23-time Grand Slam champion's hitting partner until her retirement at last season's US Open, where she reached the third round before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic.
Jenkins was seen coaching the up-and-coming Alycia Parks at the BNP Paribas Open. A video was shared on Twitter where the 32-year-old was serving balls to Parks and she hit them with her forehand.
Great to see @JarmereJenkins back on tour! #TennisParadise
The former @UVAMensTennis superstar and hitting partner of @SerenaWilliams is coaching 22-year-old Alycia Parks at Indian Wells. https://t.co/BtgzeMyuTd
Alycia Parks was eliminated in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open
Alycia Parks made her second appearance in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and suffered a 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Anna Kalinskaya in the first round.
The 22-year-old had a disappointing service performance as she served seven double faults and won only 7 out of 21 points (33.33%). She also won just 5 out of 17 points on her second serve. Kalinskaya will next face 17th seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Alycia Parks has won six out of 10 matches so far this season, winning her maiden WTA singles title at the Lyon Open, where she beat Caroline Garcia 7-6(7), 7-5 in the final. She previously beat Julia Grabher, Petra Martic, Danka Kovinic and Maryna Zanevska throughout the tournament.
Parks followed her triumph in Lyon with an opening-round exit at the Linz Open. She then competed at the Merida Open and reached the second round before losing to Rebecca Peterson. The 22-year-old's run was enough to see her enter the Top 50 of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career.
However, she suffered successive defeats in the opening rounds of the ATX Open in Austin and most recently, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Parks is currently 55th in the WTA rankings and is next scheduled to compete at the Miami Open. It will be her first main-draw appearance at the WTA 1000 tournament.