Fast-rising American Alycia Parks pulled off a stunning victory over world number five and home favourite Caroline Garcia in the Lyon Open final on Sunday.

Playing her first final on the main WTA tour, Parks earned a 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 win against last season's WTA Finals champion.

The Atlanta-born world number 79 won two titles at lower-tier WTA 125 events in December, triumphing in Andorra and the French city of Angers while many players were enjoying an off-season.

Yet this week has been a step up from that level, and 22-year-old Parks capped her run to the final by taking down the top seed and darling of the crowd.

"This title means a lot to me," Parks said. "France has a special part in my heart right now."

A to-and-fro tie-break in the opening set eventually went Parks' way after a stray forehand from Garcia.

A painful fall when running to her right on the baseline meant Parks needed medical attention early in the second set, but she was able to carry on.

Garcia tried to rouse the crowd after clinging to her serve in the eighth game to stay on level terms, and there were unsporting cheers for a double fault from Parks at the start of the ninth.

Yet Parks was not knocked out of her stride, with the player who stood 199th on the rankings at this time last year completing the biggest win of her career when Garcia sent down a double fault on match point.

Alycia Parks will compete in her first ever WTA singles final after setting up a showdown against top seed Caroline Garcia at the Lyon Open.

The American beat Maryna Zanevska 6-3 7-6 (7-4) on Saturday, hitting 35 winners and 13 aces on the way to victory.

Parks has risen through the ranks in the last year, and explained how a laid back attitude has been the secret to her success in France.

"I think the key was just staying focused, and taking my time out there," Parks said after her win. "Every time I got ahead of myself, I would kind of lose points, so I would tell myself to slow down.

"This whole week, I'm kind of relaxed this week and just kept playing my game and doing me."

The 22-year-old will face Garcia on Sunday after she eased to a 6-2 6-2 win against Camila Osorio in just an hour and 12 minutes.

At the Thailand Open, Lesia Tsurenko will take on China's Zhu Lin in the final after the Ukrainian came past top seed Bianca Andreescu.

The Canadian retired hurt in the second set, though Tsurenko already led 7-5 4-0.

"The way [Andreescu was] playing every point, like she has an idea in every point, so of course she's an amazing player," Tsurenko said. "It was a big challenge for me to handle this, and I was just saying to myself that I have to keep fighting, and this is probably the main key that worked today for me."

Zhu defeated compatriot Xinyu Wang 6-2 6-4 to advance to Sunday's final.

Caroline Garcia came from a set behind to beat Alison Van Uytvanck and progress to the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open on Thursday.

The French top seed looked to be in trouble as Belgian Van Uytvanck eased to the first set, before Garcia found her feet to come back and overwhelm her opponent 2-6 6-0 6-1.

She will face Jasmine Paolini in the last eight after the Italian took just over an hour to dispose of Erika Andreeva 6-2 6-3.

Second seed Zhang Shuai is out though after falling to another Belgian in Maryna Zanevska 6-2 6-0.

Fifth seed Anastasia Potapova will face Zanevska next after her 6-4 4-6 6-3 win over Clara Burel, while seventh seed Danka Kovinic is also through after beating Anna Bondar 4-6 6-2 6-3.

At the Thailand Open, top seed Bianca Andreescu had no problems against Anastasia Zakharova, easing through to the quarter-finals 6-2 7-5.

The Canadian will face Marta Kostyuk next after the Ukrainian fifth seed defeated Nao Hibino 6-3 7-6 (9-7).

Sixth seed Tatjana Maria also progressed 6-0 6-4 against Dayana Yastremska, as did Heather Watson as she fought hard to see off Han Na-lae 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Heather Watson stunned second seed Yulia Putintseva at the Thailand Open as the British player scored an impressive first-round win.

The 30-year-old Watson lost in qualifying for the recent Australian Open, having made the singles main draw for 11 consecutive years, but she is already beginning to make up for the Melbourne disappointment.

Kazakh Putintseva is ranked 44th in the world, while Watson has slipped to 160th, but the Guernsey native has been as high as 38th in her career and won four titles on the WTA Tour.

She showed there is still a hunger to succeed, edging a tight contest 5-7 6-4 7-5 (7-5) to make Putintseva the biggest early casualty.

Top seed Bianca Andreescu had no such trouble against Watson's compatriot Harriet Dart, as the Canadian went through a 6-3 6-4 winner.

Czech 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, seeded eighth and at a career-high 51st in the WTA rankings, overwhelmed American veteran Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3 6-1.

Fellow seeds Marta Kostyuk, Anna Kalinskaya and Tatjana Maria also came through their opening tests at the tournament in Hua Hin.

At the Lyon Open, French top seed Caroline Garcia fended off Czech Tereza Martincova 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in round one, delighting a home crowd.

Champion at the WTA Finals at the end of last season, Garcia surprisingly lost in round four of the Australian Open to unseeded Pole Magda Linette, who went on a fairy tale run to the semi-finals.

Garcia said of Tuesday's win over Martincova: "It was a tough match. She's a great player. She's already played great battles against top players, and it's a first round, so you really never know what is going to happen."

Second seed Zhang Shuai beat American Madison Brengle 6-3 6-2, but eighth seed Anna Blinkova bowed out, retiring when 4-0 behind in a deciding set against fellow Russian Erika Andreeva.

Magda Linette revealed "emotional management" has been key to her best grand slam singles run after upsetting Caroline Garcia to move into the Australian Open quarter-finals.

The unseeded Pole beat fourth seed Garcia 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena on Monday to move into the last eight for the first time.

Linette had never been beyond the third round of a major before this tournament, but she will face Karolina Pliskova for a place in the semi-finals.

The world number 45 will celebrate her 31st birthday next month and feels she is benefitting from being more mature after breaking new ground in her 30th main-draw appearance at a grand slam.

She said: "We worked a lot actually about my emotional management. I think dealing with some kind of losses, but not necessarily match losses, just even throughout the match losses, like small mistakes here and there.

"I think I've never really dealt with them very well. They carried over later on for next point, then another one. It was taking me just too long to get over them.

"I think of course we work so much on my game. We worked a lot on changing the directions and the depth of the ball.

"But I think this approach of really trying to look a little bit different, grow up a little bit emotionally, like that was a big thing for us as a team. All of us approached it. It wasn't only me, but it was the coaches that brought this to me."

Asked how she works on emotional control, Linette added: "I think it's just how do you try to approach the defeats and the mistakes, and are you making the right mistakes, can you then recognise it and move on and deal with them a little bit better. I think I was just getting too negative and too harsh on myself because I feel I'm quite demanding.

"On the other hand when you try to go to that other spectrum, when you're okay with everything, it's also not the best. You really need to stay on top of things and be proactive with it, which ones you're doing good and not.

"I think recognising it, you try again and again and again. Eventually you start recognising which ones were the right ones to deal with.

"It's very difficult. I'm [almost] 31 and I'm just getting it right, so obviously it was one of the toughest things for me. But I'm happy. I'm happy that I have this opportunity, that actually I tapped into something that finally I'm breaking something that you can't really measure it in any way. For me, it was something really difficult to change."

Veronika Kudermetova saved five match points as she beat Danielle Collins to reach the Adelaide International 2 semi-finals before Belinda Bencic knocked Caroline Garcia out.

Sixth seed Kudermetova showed great defiance to defeat American Collins 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Thursday.

Kudermetova fended off five match points when serving to stay in the tournament at 6-5 down in the second set and duly forced a tie-break.

Collins, runner-up to Ash Barty in the Australian Open final last year, took a 3-0 lead in the breaker, but back came her Russian opponent to level the match.

The world number nine dominated the deciding set to seal a meeting with Bencic in the last four.

Eighth seed Bencic got the better of WTA Finals champion Garcia 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Garcia broke straight back after going 3-1 down in the final set, but Bencic broke for the fourth time in the match to go through.

Paula Badosa and Daria Kasatkina will contest the other semi-final after beating Beatriz Haddad Maia and Petra Kvitova respectively. 

Elisabetta Cocciaretto saved two match points as she came from a set down to beat Bernarda Pera 5-7 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Hobart International. 

The 21-year-old Italian will now face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who also stormed back to defeat Anhelina Kalinina 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Lauren Davis and Anna Blinkova will do battle in the other semi-final following wins over Wang Xinyu and Yulia Putintseva respectively. 

Danielle Collins needed seven match points to defeat Jil Teichmann at the Adelaide International 2 but ultimately progressed to the quarters.

Collins, seeded 10th, had victory in her grasp after reeling off four straight games in the second set.

Yet she was unable to get over the line at the first six times of asking, initially failing to serve out the win before Teichmann saved five match points.

Collins, though, regained momentum in the tie-break to win 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

World number nine Veronika Kudermetova is next up for Collins, having received a walkover to the last eight.

Caroline Garcia, the highest-ranked player left in the tournament, overcame Katerina Siniakova 6-3 3-6 7-5, but was made to work for her win.

Having been pegged back in the second set, Garcia seemed well set to push for victory when she went 3-1 up in the decider, but Siniakova broke and then held her serve to restore parity.

A tie-break looked likely until Garcia converted the third break point of a thrilling 12th game to claim victory.

Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, was ousted by fifth seed Daria Kasatkina, who cruised through 6-2 7-5.

World number eight Kasatkina will take on two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova for a place in the last four.

Belinda Bencic also progressed, as did Paula Badosa and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Anna Blinkova caused an upset at the Hobart International, dispatching top seed Marie Bouzkova 7-5 6-4.

Fifth seed Anhelina Kalinina is the favourite after Bouzkova's exit and a tie with 2019 champion Sofia Kenin is her reward for a win over Tatjana Maria. 

Wins for Hubert Hurkacz and Magda Linette saw Poland advance to the City Finals of the United Cup in Australia on Tuesday.

Hurkacz made it through a tough encounter against Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to give Poland a 2-1 lead in their Group B tie with Switzerland in Brisbane, before Linette came from behind to beat Jil Teichmann 5-7 6-4 6-1 to clinch it.

Poland will face Italy in the Brisbane final, whose 5-0 whitewash of Norway included Matteo Berrettini sealing victory with a 6-4 6-4 win over Casper Ruud.

In Perth, Croatia advanced to the City Finals after a dramatic day that saw Caroline Garcia get France on the board with a straight sets win against Petra Martic, before Adrian Mannarino came from a set down against Borna Gojo to serve for the match as he looked to bring his country level at 2-2.

However, Gojo broke back in a tense encounter before winning a deciding tie-break to send Croatia through to face Greece, who sealed a 4-1 win against Belgium.

Stefanos Sakellaridis recovered from going a set behind to beat Zizou Bergs, before Maria Sakkari overcame Elise Mertens 6-1 7-5, with Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas adding some gloss to the score with a mixed doubles success against Kirsten Flipkens and Michael Geerts. 

Spain and Australia were unable to progress but the hosts at least had the consolation of securing a victory thanks to wins for Jason Kubler against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and the mixed doubles duo of John Peers and Sam Stosur against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Hernandez.

The USA had already secured their Finals berth against Great Britain in Sydney, but were ruthless as they finished off their tie against Germany to win 5-0.

After Jessica Pegula beat Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-2, Frances Tiafoe also defeated Oscar Otte in straight sets, before the American duo combined to beat Siegemund and Daniel Altmaier 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 10-7 to complete a clean sweep.

Caroline Garcia spoke of her "giant happiness" after coming through a "big fight" to defeat Aryna Sabalenka and become the WTA Finals champion.

The 29-year-old became just the second Frenchwoman after Amelie Mauresmo in 2005 to win the season-ending tournament by coming through a bruising encounter 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Victory propels Garcia back to a joint-career high ranking of fourth, having been languishing down in the mid-70s as recently as June following a series of injuries.

"It's definitely a lot of giant happiness," Garcia said at her post-match press conference. 

"A crazy final, a lot of intensity on every point. Just really proud of the work we did through all the year. It was a great match – really went for it. I'm really happy to win my biggest title.

"Just very happy about the mindset, to be really calm at every moment. All the negative emotion doesn't affect me, and that was really a big part of taking the few opportunities I had in the tie-breaker and the first game I broke her in the second."

With the win, Garcia pockets $1.57million in prize money and 1,375 ranking points.

Her triumph in Fort Worth is the culmination of sparkling form that has seen her win every final she has played in 2022, while she has won eight of her last nine over the past six years.

It also marks a fine return to the top table. Back in 2017, 11 straight victories to win WTA 1000 events in Wuhan and Beijing saw Garcia first enter the top 10 and earn a maiden trip to the WTA Finals where she lost to Venus Williams in the semi-finals.

"Sometimes you are emotional or things don't go your way," Garcia said. 

"I mean, sometimes there is a big fight, so you have to find your way through it. Some points, where you cannot do anything. You just try to put in the return and to run as fast as you can to the other side.

"And that was one of the biggest points I improved. Today one of the most important things was to stay calm and jump on every opportunity."

Sabalenka had knocked out top seed Iga Swiatek to reach the showpiece match but hit two costly double faults in the first-set breaker – an area that she has struggled with throughout the year.

"I just dropped my level for a little bit. On the tie-break and the first game of the second set. That's it," a rueful Sabalenka reflected.

"I did my best, [but] she played unbelievable tennis."

Caroline Garcia is this season's WTA Finals champion after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Monday's decider in Fort Worth.

Her road to the final included wins against Coco Gauff, Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari, with her only loss coming against world number one Iga Swiatek, who was eliminated by Sabalenka in the semi-final.

Against Sabalenka, Garcia showed off her powerful serve early as she racked up 10 of her 11 aces in the opening set.

Neither player had a single break point opportunity in the first frame, with both competitors winning exactly 70 per cent of their service points, but after going down a mini-break in the tiebreaker, Garcia rattled off six consecutive points to pull away.

She nabbed the decisive break in the very first game of the second set, serving it out well as she again denied Sabalenka any break point chances.

In one of the biggest matches of her career, Garcia played lights-out, committing just 10 unforced errors with her 24 winners while serving only one double-fault.

She was outside of the top-70 in the world rankings at this time last year, but with the win, Garcia will rise and equal her career-best ranking of fourth in the world.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia - 11/1

Sabalenka - 4/3

WINNERS/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia - 24/10

Sabalenka - 15/11

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia - 1/1

Sabalenka - 0/0

Caroline Garcia produced a dominant performance to overcome Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in the last four of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth on Sunday.

Garcia emerged as the victor of a topsy-turvy tussle with Daria Kasatkina on Saturday, but enjoyed a far more routine outing as she sealed her first final appearance at the competition.

Sakkari had cruised through the Nancy Richey Group with three straight-sets victories, but fell some way short of those lofty standards as she failed to force a single break-point in the opener.

Garcia took 80 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set, breaking in the fourth game and dictating proceedings from the baseline in impressive fashion.

The match resembled something of a procession after Garcia claimed consecutive breaks to seize the initiative in the second set, and the French Open champion sealed the victory when Sakkari's weak return clipped the net. 

Garcia has now won seven matches against top-10 opponents in 2022, becoming the first French player to post seven such victories in a calendar year since Amelie Mauresmo in 2009.

The world number six is also the first player to reach the title match at the WTA Finals after turning 29 years old since Venus Williams did so in 2017, and will now bid to cap a tremendous year with victory over either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia – 21/17

Sakkari – 8/19

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia – 6/1

Sakkari – 0/1

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia – 4/5

Sakkari – 1/3 

Caroline Garcia came out on top in an almighty battle with Daria Kasatkina to complete the WTA Finals semi-final line-up on Saturday.

The winner of the Tracy Austin Group match in Fort Worth knew they would face Maria Sakkari in the last four and it was world number six Garcia who got the job done.

Frenchwoman Garcia won 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in a topsy-turvy contest that was finally settled in two hours and 27 minutes.

Kasatkina won four games in a row to take the opening set, but sixth seed Garcia stormed back to level the match in emphatic fashion as her aggressive approach paid off.

Russian Kasatkina twice came from a break down in a tense decider and fended off six break points in the ninth game of the final set to hold for a 5-4 lead, but Garcia held her nerve in the tie-break to advance.

Garcia and Sakkari will do battle for a place in the final on Sunday, with the winner facing either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia- 42/48
Kasatkina - 16/26

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia - 4/2
Kasatkina - 1/8

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia - 6/14
Kasatkina - 5/7

Iga Swiatek moved onto the verge of sealing her place in the final four of the WTA Finals as she cruised to a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Caroline Garcia at Fort Worth on Thursday.

Garcia was the only WTA Finals player to have beaten Swiatek this year, but the world number one swept her aside with an impressive display in one hour and 23 minutes.

Swiatek remains yet to lose a set at Fort Worth and will qualify for the semi-finals should Coco Gauff fail to beat Daria Kasatkina in two sets, or if Kasatkina wins.

Garcia managed the first break in the third game of the opener, but Swiatek broke back immediately before finding another at 4-3 up, kicking on from there to take the opening set.

The Pole was excellent in the second set, breaking Garcia twice to secure another victory and inch closer to the final four.

Swiatek gets some measure of revenge for the 6-1 1-6 6-4 defeat to Garcia at the Warsaw Open quarter-finals in July, her only loss on clay over the season.

A Kasatkina win against Gauff will see Swiatek advance as group winner, while a Gauff win in three sets will seal her progression but leave her position in the group undecided.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Swiatek - 17/8
Garcia - 16/14

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Swiatek - 1/2
Garcia - 3/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Swiatek - 4/5
Garcia - 1/6

Caroline Garcia is off to a perfect start in her first WTA Finals appearance since 2017, collecting a straight-sets win over Coco Gauff to share top spot of the Tracy Austin Group with Iga Swiatek.

Garcia won 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes in Fort Worth, proving slightly better with her return game throughout, creating four break point opportunities in both sets while Gauff could only muster one in each.

Gauff was the one to strike first, securing a break in the opening game of the match, but Garcia got it back instantly to tie things at 1-1, and then when leading 5-4, Garcia broke again to wrap up the first set.

Things could have spiralled for the 18-year-old American when she fell down a break in the second set, but she responded well, breaking back in the next game.

But Garcia kept the pressure on for a second break before serving it out safely. It is her second consecutive win over Gauff after also eliminating her from the US Open quarter-final, and evens their head-to-head ledger at two apiece after Gauff took the first two meetings.

BREAK POINTS WON
Garcia - 4/8
Gauff - 2/2

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Garcia - 1/3
Gauff - 1/2

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Garcia - 20/23
Gauff - 12/14

There will be one racing certainty when the WTA Finals gets under way: a new champion will be crowned.

Iga Swiatek heads the list of contenders to carry off the trophy in Fort Worth, Texas, having enjoyed a spectacular season.

Ascendant Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff will be chasing a home victory, while Tunisia's Ons Jabeur has reached finals at Wimbledon and the US Open so loves the big occasion.

Ahead of the tournament getting under way on Monday, Stats Perform has taken a look at the eight-player field.

Swiatek still the player to beat

With no past winner in the line-up, there is every reason to look to the world number one, Swiatek, as favourite.

The 21-year-old Polish player has eight titles this year, lifting trophies at Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, the French Open, the US Open and San Diego.

Indeed, she is the only grand slam singles winner in the draw, with Ash Barty having retired and Elena Rybakina absent after no ranking or race points were awarded at Wimbledon, where she was a surprise champion.

Rybakina's absence calls into question the meritocracy of this year's tournament, which is intended to showcase the top performers on tour, yet there can be no doubt the season's premier performer is in the draw.

French Open and US Open winner Swiatek's remarkable run of 10 straight-sets victories in finals (dating back to the 2020 French Open) was finally ended by Barbora Krejcikova, who sprang a shock by winning in Ostrava in early October.

But by getting back to winning ways a week later in San Diego, scrapping for a three-set victory over Donna Vekic in the title match, Swiatek produced a typically impressive response, beating Qinwen Zheng, Gauff and Pegula on her way through the draw to improve to 64-8 in her win-loss record for the year.

Here is a measure of her dominance this season: Swiatek headed the 'Race to the WTA Finals' rankings with 10,335 points, with the players in second (Jabeur) to eighth place (Daria Kasatkina) having tallies ranging between 4,555 and 2,935 points.

Is Pegula the chief rival to Swiatek?

She might not have been the player that would have sprung to mind even a month ago, but Pegula's victory at the Guadalajara Open this month was an eye-opener.

Beginning by saving match points in a thrilling three-setter against Rybakina, Pegula took down grand slam winners Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka before swatting aside Maria Sakkari in the final.

Pegula has reached quarter-finals at the Australian, French and US Opens in 2022, and she has a tour-high 39 wins in WTA 1000 events since the beginning of last year.

She is up to third in the WTA rankings, one ahead of Coco Gauff, with the United States now having two women in the top five for the first time since October 2010, when Serena Williams was number two and sister Venus sat fourth.

As Pegula said after the Guadalajara final: "I'm definitely a very ambitious person. A little bit of a perfectionist, as well. I don't think you could win if you weren't ambitious, especially at this level.

"I feel like it's going to give me more motivation going forward knowing I can win these big titles. I think it will give me a lot of confidence ending the year, going into next year."

These are spirited words. She heads into the tournament with a 0-4 record against Swiatek in 2022, however.

Who's in, who's out, what's it all about?

As well as Swiatek and Pegula, the field for the eight-day tournament includes Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka and Sakkari, who have all featured at the WTA Finals in the past.

Four players make their debuts, including Pegula, who is joined as a newcomer by Jabeur, Gauff and Daria Kasatkina.

Gauff, 18, has become the 14th player aged under 19 to reach the WTA top five since the rankings were introduced in 1975.

She would not be the youngest WTA Finals champion, were she to lift the title, as Monica Seles has a tight grip on that record, having triumphed at the age of 16 years and 11 months at the 1990 edition.

Last year's champion Garbine Muguruza is absent. The Spaniard was expected by many to push on and enjoy a stellar 2022 season, but it did not play out that way, with the former French Open and Wimbledon winner sliding to 57th in the world rankings after a dismal campaign.

It goes to show that whoever prevails in Fort Worth, we should be cautious about treating the outcome as an indication of what to expect in the new year.