Catherine Bellis
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Catherine Cartan "CiCi" Bellis (born April 8, 1999) is an American former professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. In early 2018, she was the second youngest player in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Bellis has a career-high ranking of world No. 35 by the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour, which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create a better future fo ...
, which she achieved in August 2017. She is known for winning a match at the 2014 US Open as a 15 year old against a top-20 opponent, making her the youngest match-winner at the US Open since 1996. Her biggest title came at the 2016 Hawaii Tennis Open, a WTA 125 event. She also won seven singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF 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. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 98 weeks (including as the year-end No. 1 four ...
in 1991.


Early life and background

CiCi was born in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
to Gordon and Lori Bellis, and grew up in Hillsborough and Atherton in northern
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. CiCi started playing tennis at age three, but only chose 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 Monique Alicia Javer (born 22 July 1967) is an American-born former professional tennis player who represented Great Britain and was at one time the British number 1. She turned professional in 1985 and played her final professional match in 200 ...
. As a child, Bellis aspired to go to college at
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
, 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. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 20 weeks, and as the world No. 1 in women's double ...
.


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 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 Les Petits As – Le Mondial Lacoste (English: ''Little champions – The Lacoste world championship'') is a junior tennis tournament for players aged 12–14, held in Tarbes, France. This tournament is one of the five Super Category tournaments in ...
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 The Copa del Café (Coffee Bowl) is an ITF Grade 1 tennis tournament played every January in San José, Costa Rica. The tournament is part of a junior circuit backed by the International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (I ...
in Costa Rica, the USTA International Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl in the United States, and the
Trofeo Bonfiglio The Trofeo Bonfiglio ("Bonfiglio Trophy"), also known as the Campionati Internazionali d'Italia Juniores ("International Junior Championships of Italy"), is a prestigious junior tennis tournament held on outdoor red clay courts in Milan, Italy. It ...
in Italy. She followed up this success by also reaching the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
doubles final with
Markéta Vondroušová Markéta Vondroušová (; born 28 June 1999) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 6 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Vondroušová has won two singles titles, including the 2023 Wimbledon Champio ...
, 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 (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. 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 Tornado Alicia Black (born May 12, 1998) is an American former tennis player. She was taught by Rick Macci, a former tennis player. Macci taught many people including Serena and Venus Williams. Black won two singles titles on the ITF Circuit ...
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. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 98 weeks (including as the year-end No. 1 four ...
in 1991. With the victory, she also earned a wildcard into the main draw of the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
. Bellis and Black were then both selected to represent the United States at the Junior Fed Cup along with
Sofia Kenin } Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, and No. 26 in doubles. Kenin was named the ...
. 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. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
. Bellis finished the season as only the second American since 1982 to be No. 1 in the year-end 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 114th edition (85th as a Grand Slam) 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 ...
, 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 wildcard into the tournament as the USTA junior national champion, making her the youngest woman in the main draw of a Grand Slam championship since
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circuit. ...
at the
2005 French Open The 2005 French Open was the 104th 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 Coria ...
, 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 60 ...
. In her
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
-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 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
, who was the runner-up at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
earlier in the year. With the victory, she became the youngest player to win a match at the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
since
Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...
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 sets to 20 year old
Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas (; ; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as No. 31 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Diyas has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2017 Japan Women' ...
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 was handed a wildcard 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 eventual champion,
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
. This helped Bellis crack the top 200 of the WTA rankings 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 U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
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, 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 govern ...
tournament. Bellis received a wildcard into the main draw and defeated No. 38,
Jeļena Ostapenko Jeļena "Aļona" Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 5 in singles and No. 4 in doubles by the WTA. Ostapenko has won nine WTA Tour-level singles and eleven doubles tit ...
, and compatriot
Sachia Vickery Sachia Vickery ( ; born May 11, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She reached a career-high of No. 73 in the WTA rankings on 30 July 2018. Vickery, a former USTA junior national champion, has also won three singles and three doub ...
, before losing to top seed Venus Williams. This was also her first WTA Tour quarterfinal. The following month, Bellis qualified for the main draw of the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, and 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 former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
, in straight sets. Her performance 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 was a WTA Tour International level tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Held from 1993 to 2018, the tournament was the last women's professional tennis tournament still played on indoor carpet courts. It was held at the PE ...
and reached another WTA Tour quarterfinal. She won her final three tournaments of the year, including two $50k titles in Canada at Saguenay and
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, which brought her into the top 100 for the first time. Bellis then extended her match win-streak to 14 with a WTA 125 title at the Hawaii Open in Honolulu. She capped off the tournament with a win over world No. 23
Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai ( zh , s = 张帅 , p = Zhāng Shuài ; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has a career-high doubles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 2, achieved in July 2022 and a singles ranking of No. 22 re ...
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 and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
, for her first top-ten victory before falling to
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
. The upset made Bellis the youngest American to defeat a top-ten opponent since 2009. Bellis played in her first WTA Tour clay-court season and reached quarterfinals at the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco. She made another third-round appearance at a Grand Slam tournament at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and became just the third American aged 18-or-under to make it this far at the major 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 hardcourts took her to No. 40 in the WTA rankings. For the second straight year, Bellis had a great run at the Stanford Classic where she dropped just two games against No. 14
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
to get to the semifinals, where she lost to compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe. She played at the Rogers Cup and recorded a second top-ten victory, this time over No. 8
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...
. 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 This article lists the WTA Awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players and coaches for achievements during a season or their careers. Player of the Year Doubles Team of the Year Most Improved Player of the Year Newcom ...
award for her rankings achievement and her solid performance across all surfaces.


2018: Plagued by injuries

Bellis defeated world No. 5,
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
, and reached the quarterfinals at the
Qatar Ladies Open The Qatar Open, currently sponsored by TotalEnergies and called the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, is a professional tennis WTA 1000 tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played o ...
. 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 & retirement

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 tennis coach and a former professional player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA T ...
. At the
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a 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 Grand Slam of the year. ...
, Bellis defeated 22nd ranked
Karolína Muchová Karolína Muchová (; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 8, achieved on 11 September 2023. Muchová has won one WTA Tour title at the 2019 Korea Open – S ...
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 became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles on 10 May 2021, the third Belgian to hold the top ranking in either singles or ...
. Having competed her last match on the ITF Circuit in November 2020 in Charleston, she announced her retirement from professional tennis on
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on 19 January 2022.


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 final


Girls' doubles: 1 (runner–up)


Head-to-head record


Wins over top-10 players

Bellis has a win/loss record against 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 Sportspeople from Atherton, California 21st-century American sportswomen