Alycia Parks gives childhood friend Coco Gauff a test at Miami Open

MIAMI GARDENS – Alycia Parks and Coco Gauff have known each other for 15 years.

Both spent their early years in Atlanta before moving to South Florida. Gauff got to Delray Beach as a toddler, Parks to Palm Beach County when she was 10 before moving to the Treasure Coast in Port St. Lucie.

As young black girls with big dreams,  they would hit at Gauff’s playground courts in Delray’s Pompey Park.

Gauff has made it to superstardom and riches as top endorsement moneymaker for female athletes. Parks, despite being 3 years older at age 25, still is regarded as a prospect who hasn’t fully blossomed despite reaching a career-high 40^th ranking in 2023.

A two-time Grand Slam champion, Gauff was seeded fourth at the Miami Open. Parks was unseeded, ranked 105^th.

The old friends hit the big stage at Hard Rock Stadium in the third round of the Miami Open Saturday night, March 21. The 6-foot-1 Parks finally emerged, but it only lasted one set.

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Gauff, who came into the match as a -900 favorite on the moneyline (bet 900 dollars to win 100), lost the first set 6-3 but hung on for an emphatic 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 third-round triumph.

“Me and Alycia have known each other forever,’’ Gauff said. “So it’s always cool to play her.’’

Gauff, 22, said they met when she was just 7.  

“The Parks sisters were a big thing in the city and they invited me to practice with them and I was nervous because they were older,’’ Gauff recalled. “It was really cool we got to play on this stage.

“Our mutual friend was in her box,’’ Gauff added. “It’s somebody you root for off the court. My mom went to her match at Indian Wells. (Alycia) probably doesn’t even know that. In the middle of the match I’m thinking, ‘Oh, this  would be a great win for her, taking me out of the equation.’ Then you turn back on your competitive mode and say, ‘Ok, I got to win.’”

 “The black tennis community in South Florida, we’re not a lot of players. We’re a close-knit group.’’

Gauff and Parks haven’t remained too close in recent years as Parks moved from the Delray Beach area to the Treasure Coast. Like Coco, Parks also passed on college scholarships and hit the pro tour at 17, with career earnings of just over $2.8 million.

Parks declined requests to talk after her three-set defeat in her first-ever third-round match. She’s recently gotten a wave of publicity for posting clips of her practicing with Serena Williams in Jupiter.

Williams appears to be mulling a comeback and they’ve reportedly been practicing as much as three times a week when Parks is home.

“She edited it and she was like, ‘OK, let’s break the internet,’’’ Parks said recently.

In an interview with the Substack’s Ben Rothenberg at Miami Open’s media day, Parks added of her Serena alliance:

““It means a lot to me. We’re kind of close? And even her team—I kind of use her physio sometimes. So yeah, I don’t know. I’m just like: “that’s Serena.”

Their first-ever tour meeting between Coco and Parks came at the 2024 Australian Open when Gauff won 6-0, 6-2.

“I’m expecting a way different match than (in 2024),’’ Gauff said beforehand. “She’s gotten a lot better. I think it will be a tough, tough match. This is both of our home tournaments.’’

Gauff won the first two games at love over Parks and won nine straight points in all to open it up. But Parks was clearly nervous and settled down to rip winners from the baseline with her powerful groundstrokes.

The Delray Beach star double-faulted three times, then hit a backhand in the net on her second shot on break point to get Parks going.

After Parks pulled away for the set, Gauff buckled down and bageled Parks in the second set. 

By the third set, Parks, who has a larger frame than Gauff, looked spent, soaking in sweat. During a long double-deuce game, Parks went to her knees in exhaustion. On the next point after losing the game to fall behind 5-1, she flung her racket, then elected to go radio silent with the media.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Alycia Parks tests childhood friend Coco Gauff at Miami Open