tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

WTA rankings The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975. Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1. Ranking method The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...

Hawaii Tennis Open As of July 2022, The Hawaii Open is now the Waikiki Cup. The Hawaii Open is a hardcourt men's and women's professional tennis tournament held annually in Honolulu, Hawaii. The tournament features players from the WTA and ATP Tours. The invitationa ...

WTA 125 WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012. In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger seriesITF Circuit. Bellis had an accomplished junior season the same year she played in her first US Open, finishing the 2014 season as the ITF Junior World Champion for holding the year-end world No. 1 junior ranking. She also won the USTA National Junior Championship that year at 15 to become the youngest winner of the event since

Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...

in 1991.

Early life and background

CiCi was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to Gordon and Lori Bellis, and grew up in Hillsborough and Atherton in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. CiCi started playing tennis at age three, but only choose to focus on it over soccer when she was ten years old. When she was young, she was coached by former top-100 player Monique Javer. As a child, Bellis aspired to go to college at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

, but ended up declining a scholarship to turn pro due to her success as a teenager. Her tennis idol is

Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...

.

Junior career

As a junior in the United States, Bellis won six USTA National Junior Singles Championships and was ranked No. 1 in the G18s in April, 2014. Bellis began playing on the

ITF Junior Circuit The ITF Junior Circuit is the premier level for worldwide competition among under-18 junior tennis players. Founded in 1977 with only nine tournaments, the 2011 ITF Junior Circuit offered over 350 tournaments in 118 countries. Mirroring the ATP an ...

in late 2012 and mostly participated in low-level Grade-4 tournaments through the end of 2013. Her biggest triumph in the 2013 season was winning Les Petits As in France, a prestigious tournament for juniors between 12 and 14 years old. In 2014, Bellis played only Grade-B1, Grade-1, and Grade-A tournaments, the three highest levels on the junior circuit. She had an impressive start to the year by reaching the final at her first five events, winning four of them. Specifically, she won the Copa del Café in Costa Rica, the USTA International Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl in the United States, and the

Trofeo Bonfiglio The Trofeo Bonfiglio, also known as the Campionati Internazionali d'Italia Juniores, is a prestigious junior tennis tournament held on outdoor red clay courts in Milan. It is one of five Grade A tournaments, the junior equivalent of ATP Masters ...

in Italy. She followed up this success by also reaching the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

doubles final with

Markéta Vondroušová Markéta Šimková (née Vondroušová; ; born 28 June 1999) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 14 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Vondroušová finished runner-up at the 2019 French Open, ...

, which they lost in a match tiebreak. In contrast, Bellis struggled at the three Grand Slam singles events she entered that year, with her best result being a third round appearance at the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

. Nonetheless, she took over the No. 1 ITF junior rank in early September on the strength of those four titles in the first half of the season. In August 2014, Bellis won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship, defeating Tornado Alicia Black in the final. At the age of 15 years and four months, she became the youngest winner of the event since

Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...

in 1991. With the victory, she also earned a

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

into the main draw of the US Open. Bellis and Black were then both selected to represent the United States at the Junior Fed Cup along with Sofia Kenin. The trio won the title and Bellis went undefeated in seven matches. Later in the year, she also reached the semifinals at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

. Bellis finished the season as only the second American since 1982 to be No. 1 in the year-end ITF girls' junior rankings, earning her the title of 2014 ITF World Champion. Bellis closed out her junior career by reaching the semifinals at the

2015 French Open The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of ...

, her best singles result at a Grand Slam tournament and the only junior event she played that year.

Professional career

Early years: US Open match win

Bellis played her first few low-level professional events in early 2014, and won a doubles title at the $10K event in Orlando in March. She entered the 2014 US Open ranked No. 1208 with just two professional match wins in singles, both against players ranked outside the top 300. Nonetheless, she earned a wild card into the tournament as the USTA junior national champion, making her the youngest woman in the main draw of a Grand Slam event since

Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 February 2009, she ...

at the

2005 French Open The 2005 French Open was the 109th edition of the tournament. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth at his first French Open, was a strong favorite to win the singles title after winning the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters. Guillermo Cor ...

, and the youngest in the main draw of the US Open since

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

. In her

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

-level debut, she upset 12th seed

Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win ...

, who was the runner-up at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

earlier in the year. With the victory, she became the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since

Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova ( rus, Анна Сергеевна Курникова, p=ˈanːə sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvnə ˈkurnʲɪkəvə, a=Anna_kournikova.ogg; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American televisi ...

reached the fourth round of the 1996 US Open at age 15. Bellis was also the youngest American to win a match at the US Open since

Mary Joe Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up ...

in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

. She was unable to win her next match, losing in three set loss to 20 year old

Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas ( kk, Зари́на Ди́ас; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 31 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Diyas has won one WTA singles title, at th ...

in the second round. A month after the US Open, Bellis won her first two professional titles in singles in back-to-back weeks, both in South Carolina at the $25K level. In 2015, Bellis received a wild card into the main draw of the Miami Open, her first Premier Mandatory tournament. She avenged her US Open loss to Zarina Diyas in the second round before losing to No. 1,

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...

, the eventual champion. This helped Bellis crack the top 200 of the

WTA rankings The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975. Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1. Ranking method The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...

for the first time. She would reach a new career-high of No. 152 in the world during the summer. Towards the end of the year, Bellis attempted to qualify for the US Open, but fell one match short.

2016: Top 100 debut, WTA 125 title

left, 175px, Bellis at the 2016 US Open Bellis began the 2016 season ranked No. 248 and got off to a slow start. She did not return to the top 200 until the summer, after playing in the

Stanford Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is t ...

, a

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

tournament. Bellis received a wildcard into the main draw and defeated No. 38 Jeļena Ostapenko and compatriot

Sachia Vickery Sachia Vickery (born May 11, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She first entered the top 100 in 2018 and eventually reached a career-high of No. 73 in the world in the WTA rankings. Her best results on the WTA Tour came at the 2 ...

before losing to top seed

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

. This was also her first WTA quarterfinal. The following month, Bellis successfully qualified for the main draw of the US Open. She then improved on her result from two years earlier by reaching the third round, where she lost to the eventual champion

Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wi ...

, in straight sets. Her performance at the US Open took her to a new career-high ranking of No. 120 and helped convince her to turn professional. In her first tournament as a pro, Bellis entered the

Tournoi de Québec The Tournoi de Québec (sponsored as Coupe Banque Nationale or known as National Bank Cup in English-language media) was a WTA Tour International level tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Held from 1993 to 2018, the tournament w ...

and reached another WTA quarterfinal. Towards the end of the season, Bellis caught fire and won her final three tournaments of the year. This included two $50K titles in Canada at Saguenay and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, which brought her into the top 100 for the first time. Bellis then extended her match win streak to 14 with a

WTA 125 WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012. In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger series Hawaii Open Seiko Super Tennis was the 1984 name of a men's professional tennis tournament played in Maui or Honolulu, Hawaii from 1974 through 1984 that was part of the Grand Prix circuit . It was played on outdoor hard courts in Maui every year except 198 ...

in Honolulu. She capped off the tournament with a win over world No. 23

Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai (; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open, both alongside Samantha Stosur. Zhang als ...

in the final, the second highest ranked player she ever defeated. Bellis finished the year ranked No. 75 and the only player under 18 in the top 100.

2017: Top 50, Newcomer of the Year

Bellis was forced to skip the Australian hard-court season in January due to left leg problems with her hip and hamstring. She played her first main draw of the year at the Dubai Championships, where she made her first Premier 5-quarterfinal and extended her main-draw win streak at all levels to 17 matches. In the third round, she defeated world No. 6,

Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player. She won 20 career singles WTA Tour titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achiev ...

, for her first top-ten victory before falling to

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...

. The upset made Bellis the youngest American to defeat a top-ten opponent since 2009. In the spring, Bellis played in her first WTA clay-court season. She reached the quarterfinals at the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco and made another third round appearance at a Grand Slam tournament at the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

. She became just the third American aged 18-or-under to make it this far at the Grand Slam event in Paris since the turn of the century. Bellis also had a strong grass-court season with her first WTA semifinal at the

Mallorca Open The Mallorca Championships is a professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Classified as an ATP 250 tournament, the event is annually held at the outdoor grass courts of Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, Spain in June, a week p ...

. This success away from the hard courts took her to No. 40 in the

WTA rankings The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975. Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1. Ranking method The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...

. For the second straight year, Bellis had a great tournament at the

Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...

. She dropped just two games against No. 14

Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...

to get to the semifinals, where she lost to compatriot

CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...

. She next played at the

Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

and recorded a second top-ten victory, this time over No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova. This helped her reach a career-high of No. 35 in the world in mid-August. She then finished the season on a five match losing streak. Nonetheless, Bellis won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award for her rankings achievement and her solid performance across all surfaces.

2018: Plagued by injuries

Bellis defeated world No. 5, Karolína Plíšková, and reached the quarterfinals at the Qatar Open. Recurring wrist and elbow injuries sidelined Bellis after March. Bellis eventually had four surgeries in June, September, November and March of 2019 on her wrist, arm and elbow.

2019–2020: Comeback

Bellis returned to tennis in November 2019 at the Houston Challenger after 18 months away from the game while she recovered from injuries. She lost in the third round to the eventual champion,

Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 T ...

. At the

2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Gran ...

, Bellis defeated 22nd ranked Karolína Muchová in the second round, before falling to world No. 17,

Elise Mertens Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Mertens is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering ...

.

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 1 (title)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 8 (7 titles, 1 runner–up)

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Girls' doubles: 1 (runner–up)

Head-to-head record

Record against top 10 players

Bellis' match record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, former No. 1 in bold. *

Bianca Andreescu Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu ...

1–0 *

Timea Bacsinszky Timea Bacsinszky ( hu, Bacsinszky Tímea; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who won four singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. A fo ...

1–0 *

Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win ...

1–0 *

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

1–0 * Madison Keys 1–0 *

Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...

1–0 * Svetlana Kuznetsova 1–0 *

Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...

1–0 *

Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a b ...

1–0 *

Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...

1–1 * Daria Kasatkina 1–1 * Jeļena Ostapenko 1–1 * Karolína Plíšková 1–1 *

Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player. She won 20 career singles WTA Tour titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achiev ...

1–1 *

Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest ranked Dutch female player ever. Her career-high do ...

1–2 *

Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh is the feminine form of the Old English name Ashley, which means "dweller near the ash tree forest". It is most common in the United States and United Kingdom. Notable people B *Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian voice actress * Ashle ...

0–1 *

Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion. She is also a two- ...

0–1 * Simona Halep 0–1 *

Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wi ...

0–1 *

Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings#Singles, ranking of List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Singles, world No. 1 by the ...

0–1 * Aryna Sabalenka 0–1 *

CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...

0–1 *

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...

0–1 *

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

0–1 *

Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...

0–2 *

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...

0–2 :''* ''

Wins over top 10 players

Bellis is currently against top 10 players who were in the top 10 at the moment of the match. :''* ''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellis, Cici 1999 births Living people American female tennis players Tennis players from San Francisco People from Atherton, California 21st-century American women