Alycia Parks of the United States beat Mei Yamaguchi of Japan in the first round of the WTA 500 event in Singapore, 6-4, 6-3, and reached the second round. The tournament is being played on hard courts, and the prize money is $1,2 million. Both players were unseeded. Parks is ranked 70th with 985 points, while Yamaguchi is 259th with 295 points, according to rank.tennis.
Parks took the first set 6-4. In the second, the gap widened to 6-3 in the American’s favor. Yamaguchi was unable to make it competitive in either set, and the match ended in straight sets.
A serve with two faces
According to api.tennis, Parks’ serve helped and hurt her in equal measure in this match: 8 aces and 8 double faults. Yamaguchi had one ace and one double fault. The outcome was decided by breaks. Parks converted 4 of 8 break points, while Yamaguchi converted 2 of 7. On first serve, the American won 20 points from 30 serves in, while the Japanese player won 18 from 32. In total, Parks scored 68 points to her opponent’s 52.
This is the only head-to-head meeting between the players in the api.tennis database, with Parks leading the rivalry 1:0. Before Singapore, the American played in Guadalajara. There she beat Varvara Lepchenko in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, and then lost to Sara Bejlek, 4-6, 3-6.