Parks advances to semifinals in Lyon, while Andreescu wins in Hua Hin

Bianca Andreescu and Alycia Parks are two players who are certainly eyeing a WTA trophy this week, and they both got a step closer to it on Friday.

While the Canadian competes at the 2023 Thailand Open in Hua Hin, Parks plays at the 2023 Lyon Open in France. Both players are 22 years old, and while Andreescu already knows how it feels to be in the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings and win a Grand Slam, the American is hoping for a breakthrough season this year.

Andreescu, who is the first-seeded player in Hua Hin, took on the fifth-seeded Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine. She had a superb start to the match, winning the first set 6-0 in just 25 minutes.

In the second set, the 2019 US Open champion continued in a dominant style, as she got two early breaks and led 5-1. However, she couldn't serve out the match twice, and also she didn't use any of the three match points that she had on her opponent's serve in the tenth game.

Therefore, the second set had to be decided in a tie-break, which didn't start well for Andreescu, who was a mini-break down. Yet, she managed to find her rhythm again and win the match in two sets, 6-0, 7-6(3), to set up a semi-final clash with another Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko.

Alycia Parks' match was a completely different story. She didn't start well, and her opponent, Danka Kovinic from Montenegro, was serving to win the first, as she already led 5-3.

That's when the American found her firepower and started turning the match around. She won four consecutive games in the first set and won it 7-5.

Parks then continued in a dominant style also in the second set. She broke her opponent's serve two more times and won the match 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals in Lyon. Up next, she will await the fifth-seeded Anastasia Potapova or Maryna Zanevska.