She's young, fearless, talented and attractive. 15 year old American tennis player Catherine Bellis appears to have the whole package to be the next American "It Girl". Today, she appeared ready to assume the mantle a little bit earlier than expected.
Bellis entered the tournament as a relatively unknown but undoubtedly talented wildcard. The 15-year-old first made headlines earlier this year as she won the USTA U18's National Girls' Championship which came with the wildcard into the tournament. In spite of the talent she clearly possesses, she has yet to even advance beyond the 3rd round at a Junior major. This year she made the 3rd round at the French Open Juniors in addition to her third round trip into the 2013 US Open Juniors.
She has continued to mature, and could be set for the first of what will hopefully be many breakthroughs. Today, she took on 12th seeded Dominika Cibulkova and played as only a 15 year old can. In her 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Cibulkova, Bellis was fearless. She is the youngest match winner at the US Open since 1996, when Anna Kournikova won at the tender age of 15. There seemed to be no shot Bellis wouldn't try and then execute to stunning perfection. She showed remarkable grit in the 3rd set to break Cibulkova back after going down a break early, and then fed off the energy of the crowd. Playing on Court 6, the world number 1208 attracted quite a crowd and managed to draw the ESPN cameras over, even though 6 is not a televised court.
As the third set wore on, the crowd continued to grow louder and Bellis seemed invincible. She began going for every shot possible, and was painting the lines and changing the direction of the ball at will. She was hitting seemingly effortless winners, ripping the ball down the line straight off of Cibulkova's first serve.
To top it off, she was playing with the energy and excitement of a teenager. As she was running all over the court, getting to every ball, and energetically first pumping it was clear she just has fun playing the game. During the telecast, ESPN analyst Chrissie Evert threw in the anecdote that Bellis' parents have to force her to take a day off from tennis once every two weeks because all she wants to do is play.
It is important that she not be hurried, and is allowed to mature at her own natural pace instead of being forced into a starring role now. It is certain that her ranking of 1208 will spike, but she should heed caution from Melanie Oudin. Oudin made a great run to the quarterfinals in 2009 as a 17 year old and beat three seeded players in her first four matches, but has since been unable to replicate that success. But if Bellis' is allowed to mature and delivers on the talent she clearly possesses she could soon be the next American tennis It Girl.