Catherine Cartan Bellis has pulled off the upset of the U.S Open, defeating Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 4-6 6-4 in the first round today. Bellis, who goes by the name CiCi, is a mere 15 years old. Yes, you read correctly, 15 years old!
The American, who hails from San Francisco, is ranked 1211th in the world. Her best win this year, in terms of opponent ranking, was when she defeated Katerina Kramperova, who at the time was ranked 338. Dominika Cibulkova is ranked 13th in the world, and reached a Grand Slam final this year, at the Australian Open. The Slovak, in 2014, had defeated Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanksa, Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams. That alone makes this an unbelievable win for Bellis. What makes it even more incredulous, is that she was down a break in the third set!
Bellis had to work hard to even get to the U.S Open, with her spot in the main draw guaranteed after she won the USTA Girls’ Singles Title at Kalamazoo in early August. When drawn against Cibulkova in the first round, very few believed in her, including herself. “I never thought I would come out on top winning”, she said in her post-match presser.
She started off like a house on fire, winning the first eight points of the match. Cibulkova held her next service game, but from then on Bellis was in control, reeling off four consecutive games to win the opening set 6-1. In 24 minutes, the 15 year-old had won her first set at a major. Naturally, Cibulkova was going to fight, and she broke Bellis in the opening game of the second set. Six held service games later and the Slovak was serving at 4-3, when she faltered, allowing Bellis to break back and even things up. However the saying “you’re most vulnerable when you’ve just broken serve” held true, with the teenager broken straight back, allowing Cibulkova to serve out the second set 6-4.
The third set started off with a long Bellis service game, which she eventually held after saving break point. Cibulkova then won three straight games, going ahead 3-1, perhaps causing a few writers to alter their headlines. This girl showed fortitude beyond her years, “Well, yeah, when I was down 3-1, it was kind of a bummer…. I just kind of told myself, Calm down, don't think about who you're playing, who is on the other side of the court. Just be costless. You have nothing to lose.” She played like it, going on her own run of three games to edge ahead 4-3. Cibulkova held to get to 4-4, but only registered one point from then on, as Bellis held to love and broke to 15, claiming a stunning victory. “I'm feeling amazing. I'm… speechless.” She becomes the youngest player to win a U.S Open match since 1996 – before she was even born!
While the media must be wary of hyping up another American before they are ready for it, CiCi Bellis has made an extremely promising start to her career, and looks to be a feature at Flushing Meadows for many years to come.