"Diane has very high potential, she can go very far," says Högstedt, Parry's coach

Diane Parry is off to a strong start at the US Open. The French player, who dropped out of the top 100 after several physical setbacks disrupted the beginning of her season, has eliminated Petra Kvitova (6-1, 6-0) and Renata Zarazua (6-2, 2-6, 7-6) and will play her third-round match early Saturday against Marta Kostyuk.

The Nice native has never managed to beat the Ukrainian, who leads their head-to-head 2-0. However, Parry can have ambitions in this tournament, as well as in the coming weeks.

Thomas Högstedt, who has been coaching the French player since May and has previously worked with Wozniacki, Sharapova, and Keys among others, has great belief in his new protégée.

"She has very high potential, she's 22 years old, and I think she can go really far. There's Sabalenka, Swiatek, but behind them everything is open. She needs to keep working and not be too impatient, take her time to shape her body, build her game even more—her unique one-handed backhand.

She's someone who is very interesting to work with. She listens a lot, she follows instructions—I wasn't sure when I started! But she's really moving in the right direction.

The main difference I can make is in training to help her improve. The top players train very intensely: Sharapova, Wozniacki, Li Na trained as if they were playing a match.

That's what I've tried to instill in all the players I've worked with, and I'm glad Diane (Parry) is embracing it. She's rather calm, but little by little, I want her to be a bit more demonstrative on the court.

Not just raising a fist on match point. When Sharapova won the first game, she made the opponent feel it," the Swede elaborated in recent hours for L'Équipe.