Fiona Ferro was committed to the second round of the WTA 125 in Limoges this Wednesday evening. Facing American Alycia Parks, the task promised to be tough.
A duel of a completely different caliber awaited Fiona Ferro. For the continuation of her week in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Fiona Ferro was up against the tournament’s No. 5 seed, American Alycia Parks (24 years old, 85th in the world). It had been nearly eight months since she faced such a highly-ranked player. Bolstered by her recent victories against Tina Smith last week and Mona Barthel this Monday, a new duel of heavy hitters awaited the Frenchwoman. In their respective careers, the two players had already faced each other twice: in Lausanne in 2021 (victory for Fiona Ferro), then in Charleston in 2023 (victory for Alycia Parks). Since then, the Atlanta native has comfortably established herself among the top 100, unlike Fiona Ferro. Two completely opposite trajectories that promised an interesting clash.
The beginning of the match is quite indicative of Fiona Ferro’s level for what can still be considered her return to competition after her wrist surgery at the beginning of the summer. Very agile and focused, the Valbonne native gives nothing away to her opponent, who, on her part, makes some small errors in length. A matter of adjustment, as a few minutes later, the American manages to relax and hit her shots. Fiona Ferro resists initially but eventually succumbs to Alycia Parks’ forceful shots. The Azurian gets overwhelmed and attacked on her serve. Evidence that the service is not yet optimal. After a first break, the games fly by and hopes of winning the first set fade away. Alycia Parks dominates the first set (6-2).
A glimmer of hope…
Well aware of the need to raise her level of play, Fiona Ferro returns to the court with better intentions. She takes advantage of a lapse in her opponent’s service to have several opportunities to break for the first time in the match. This she manages to do on a nasty double fault by Alycia Parks. Not enough to destabilize the American, who calmly returns to the match with her sharp hits that hurt the Maralpine. A love game. It’s the beginning of the end for the Frenchwoman, who can only acknowledge her opponent’s superiority. Despite some interesting phases of play from Fiona Ferro, Alycia Parks regains control of the match and doesn’t relinquish it.
The local of the stage manages to sow doubt in her opponent’s mind, notably by using nice variations to compensate for the deficit in power. Up until the eighth game. At 4-3, Fiona Ferro loses her serve. It seems that the match is over. However, with a surge of pride and probably overconfidence in her opponent, the Maralpine manages to catch up again. The American strings together unforced errors and gets frustrated although she had the match in hand. Everything has to be redone in this second set where Fiona Ferro offers more response physically. On the other side, choices are less wise and the game plan less well executed. While Fiona Ferro appears well-positioned to seek another break, she, in turn, starts making mistakes. Alycia Parks refocuses and eventually finds the unplayable zones with her backhand to ultimately win in two sets (6-2/7-5) in 1 hour and 26 minutes.
This was probably the last match of Fiona Ferro’s 2025 season as there will be no more WTA tournament by the end of the year. Although a few Challenger tournaments remain, the time should be devoted to preparing for next season. Hopefully, with a return to the Grand Slam.
