Welcome to Take Five, a weekly series at USOpen.org recapping five of the biggest stories of the last week on the professional tennis circuit. Alycia Parks and Zhu Lin claimed the two WTA trophies on offer in the first week of February, while Davis Cup action spanned the globe in men's tennis.
Parks powers to first WTA title in Lyon
Alycia Parks made headlines during the 2021 US Open, her Grand Slam debut, when she tied Venus Williams for the event's fastest women's serve at 129 mph. She was ranked world No. 246 at the time.
Now, nearly 18 months later, the 22-year-old Atlanta native is knocking on the door of the WTA's Top 50 after winning her first title Sunday in Lyon, France.
Parks defeated top seed and home favorite Caroline Garcia, 7-6(7), 7-5, in the championship match to claim the trophy at the WTA 250. By beating the 2022 US Open semifinalist and world No. 5, the American earned her first Top 5 victory. Parks defeated three seeded opponents in France, including fourth seed Petra Martic in the second round and seventh seed Danka Kovinic in the quarters.
"It feels amazing to hold my first WTA tour-level championship trophy," Parks said after her victory, as quoted on wtatennis.com. "Words can’t explain. Just last year, I was in an [ITF Challenger] $60,000 final, and now I have won a WTA 250."
Wawrinka Plays Hero In Swiss Davis Cup Return
Playing in his first Davis Cup tie since 2015, the 37-year-old Stan Wawrinka won a decisive fifth rubber to send Switzerland into the group stage of the 2023 Finals. After a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Germany's Alexander Zverev on Friday, Wawrinka rebounded with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 clincher against Daniel Altmaier on Saturday for the visiting side.
“I’m happy I won one point, and the last one was the most important,” said Wawrinka, who credited Marc-Andrea Huesler for leveling the tie at 2-2 with a win against Zverev.
“We have a great team,” he later added. “They’ve been building this team for the last few years. I was happy to come back if they need me to help. I’m the oldest by far, but we had a great week. We were really helping each other—it was a great week for us."
Wawrinka, playing alongside Roger Federer, helped lead Team Switzerland to the 2014 Davis Cup title, the nation's first.
Davis Cup Finals group stage field set
Switzerland are one of 16 teams confirmed for the group stage of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals after the weekend's Qualifiers. Finland, led by Emil Ruusuvuori, are through to that round for the first time after their 3-1 win against Argentina, while South Korea battled back from 2-0 down to defeat Belgium in one three ties that required a decisive fifth rubber.
France also progressed to the group stage with a 3-2 win, courtesy of a Ugo Humbert clincher.
The full list of 12 qualifying nations includes: Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Great Britain, South Korea, the Netherlands, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
They are joined in the group stage by 2022 champions Canada, 2022 finalists Australia, and wild cards Spain and Italy.
Zhu claims maiden title in Hua Hin
Joining Parks in the WTA winners' circle for the first time was China's Zhu Lin, who won the WTA 250 in Hua Hin, Thailand, to secure her maiden tour-level crown at age 29.
After dropping the opening set of her campaign against third seed and countrywoman Wang Xiyu, Lin won 10 sets in a row to clinch the title. She capped off her run with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in Sunday's final.
With the victory, Zhu moved up to a new career-high WTA ranking of No. 41 and accomplished two of her major goals for 2023.
"At the beginning of this year, my goal for me and my team was to break the Top 50, and win a WTA title," Zhu said. "Now it’s only February and I already did it, so maybe I have to talk with my team to adjust for the rest of the season. I’m looking forward to it!"
The milestone result continues a standout season for Zhu, who reached the quarterfinals in Auckalnd and the fourth round at the Australian Open last month.
Doubles Round-up
Hua Hin singles champ Zhu also reached the doubles final in Thailand alongside partner Wang Xinyu, falling to a 6-1, 7-6(5) defeat against Chan Hao-Ching and Wu Fang-Hsien.
In Lyon, the Spanish-Dutch duo of Cristina Bucsa and Bibiane Schoofs claimed the title with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win against Olga Danilovic and Alexandra Panova in the final.
Notable Davis Cup doubles action included a tie-clinching win for Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, who represented the U.S. in Uzbekistan, and a crucial win for the British duo of Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski, who defeated the longtime Colombian pairing of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The 6-4, 6-4 win for Evans/Skupski put the visitors 2-1 up in the tie and set the stage for Cameron Norrie to wrap up a 3-1 team victory in singles.
