CiCi Bellis, the New Youngest Player to Win a Match at the US Open
The 26th of August at Flushing Meadows this year has a lot of surprising events. The new youngest player to win a match at the US Open has been spotted after a stunning 3 set game, during which she showed a great level of energy and vigorous style of playing.
The teen is 15 and has 152 game days at the moment, which makes her the next young tennis star since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
The 15-year-old competed with Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova in three sets and won with 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 score. Registered for the game as an amateur, she cannot withdraw her win of $60,000, though. That does not dissappoint the young player. At the moment, her plans for the future resume at planning the nearest activities, which eventually imply college:
"I don't really think about it (the prize money). I mean, I try to just focus on the tennis rather than anything else. I think I'm definitely going to stay an amateur right now to keep my options open for college, in case an injury or something happens. But I'd love to be a pro one day."
CiCi Bellis is of American origin and is being home-schooled while focusing mostly on tennis. She explains her name as a contraction of the first and middle names. She is Catherine Cartan in the documents, CiCi on the playfield, according to her own choice.
CiCi Bellis had started to play tennis at her parents' country club. She was 9 years old when Michael Jessup, her coach, noticed that the junior player had something special in her attitude and posture.
“I’ve coached a lot of really good players, but she stood out, with her spunk, her spark. She didn’t see pressure. She saw a challenge. She saw it as fun.”
There you have the ‘winner’s ingredient. Now, CiCi is being classified as ‘the next big thing’ in tennis. What is her attitude towards the event?
“I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience, but I never thought I would come out on top winning. I’m still in shock about that match.”
The next challenge to face is the second round, where Bellis will face Zarbia Dyas of Kazakhstan, the world number 48. Zarbya Dias played against the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko on the 26th of August.
As for the upcoming challenge which is about to take place on the 28th, Bellis is ready and has her attitude set towards winning it as well:
“If you do believe, there’s two options, you can either believe and lose or believe and win. But if you don’t believe you’re going to lose anyway.”
Attitude matters a lot, and now we are waiting for the second round in order to see a game between the young amateurs, who are both set to win and prove that the US Open is the place for them.
