Coco Gauff and Alycia Parks: Friends for a decade, opponents for ...

“She has a big game, big serve, big shots, very athletic. I think she's one of the most, if not the most, athletic players on tour. It's going to be a tough match. I don't expect it to be easy,” Gauff said.

“I've never played her in practice or anything. We're both going in, not blind because we obviously watched each other, but never hit or anything. She's a great player, and I always knew she was going to do well on tour. It was just a matter of when it was all going to align.”

Slim margins will likely decide the match. Parks, making her Aussie Open main-draw debut, is the tournament’s female leader in aces, with 23 across two matches. Both Americans are also at the top of the serving speed leaderboard: Gauff’s serve has reached speeds of 123 miles per hour in the fortnight so far, and Parks is just behind her, at 122 mph.