Alycia Parks has once again showed why she's one to watch. The fast-rising American pulled off a sequence of remarkable hot shots en route to defeating No.4 seed Petra Martic 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 and booking her second tour-level quarterfinal place at the Open 6ème Sens Métropole de Lyon.

All came at crucial junctures of the match. The first, surely a contender for shot of the year, was a lunging tweener-lob that Parks pulled off with her back to the court. It enabled the 22-year-old to hold for 3-2 in the second set, having lost a one-sided opener.

Guided by faith, Alycia Parks readies for a breakout 2023

Next, a finely angled crosscourt pass helped Parks get out of a tight deuce service game at 4-4 in the second set. She took control of the ensuing tiebreak by finding a perfect angle on a high backhand volley, hit while leaping and twisting in the air. In the decider, some astonishing reflexes at net prevented Martic from holding for 3-2; instead, Parks would go on to break the Croatian, and would not lose another game.

More Lyon highlights: Osorio d. Cornet, R1 | Noskova d. Muguruza, R1 | Martic d. Mladenovic, R1 | Garcia d. Martincova, R1 | Van Uytvanck d. Korpatsch, R1 | Osorio d. Niemeier, R2

European indoor courts have proved a happy hunting ground for Parks in the past five months. She reached her first tour-level quarterfinal in Ostrava last October, scoring upsets of Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova en route. In December, she made her Top 100 debut on the back of consecutive WTA 125 titles in Andorra-la-Vella and Angers. In Lyon, she will next face either No.7 seed Danka Kovinic or Anna Bondar.