CiCi Bellis facts for kids
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Bellis at the 2015 Carlsbad Classic
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| Full name | Catherine Cartan Bellis |
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| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Residence | Lake Nona, Florida |
| Born | April 8, 1999 San Francisco, California |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Turned pro | September 2016 |
| Retired | January 2022 |
| Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Tom Gutteridge |
| Prize money | US$ 1,431,153 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 138–67 (67.32%) |
| Career titles | WTA Challenger, 7 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 35 (August 14, 2017) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2020) |
| French Open | 3R (2017) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2017) |
| US Open | 3R (2016) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 20–19 (51.28%) |
| Career titles | 2 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 149 (July 17, 2017) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2018) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2017) |
| US Open | 1R (2016, 2017) |
Catherine Cartan "CiCi" Bellis (born April 8, 1999) is an American former professional tennis player. She was known for her exciting style of play. In 2017, she reached her highest ranking of world No. 35.
CiCi became famous at the 2014 US Open. At just 15 years old, she beat a top-20 player. This made her the youngest winner at the US Open since 1996. She won a big title at the 2016 Hawaii Tennis Open. She also won seven singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In 2014, she was the ITF Junior World Champion. She was the best junior player in the world that year.
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Early Life and Tennis Start
CiCi Bellis was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in Hillsborough and Atherton. CiCi started playing tennis when she was three years old. But she only chose tennis over soccer when she was ten. Her coach when she was young was Monique Javer, a former top-100 player. CiCi always dreamed of going to Stanford for college. However, her success in tennis led her to become a professional player instead. Her favorite tennis player is Kim Clijsters.
Junior Tennis Career
As a junior player in the United States, CiCi won six national championships. She was ranked No. 1 in her age group in 2014. She started playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in late 2012. In 2013, she won Les Petits As in France. This is a very important tournament for young players.
In 2014, CiCi played in the highest levels of junior tournaments. She had a great start to the year. She reached the finals in her first five events and won four of them. She won titles in Costa Rica, the United States, and Italy. She also reached the doubles final at the French Open with Markéta Vondroušová. In September 2014, she became the No. 1 junior player in the world.
In August 2014, CiCi won the USTA Girls' 18s National Championship. She was 15 years and four months old. This made her the youngest winner since Lindsay Davenport in 1991. This win also gave her a special entry into the main draw of the US Open. CiCi also helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup. She finished 2014 as the ITF World Champion. She was only the second American girl since 1982 to be the year-end No. 1 junior.
CiCi ended her junior career in 2015. She reached the semifinals at the French Open. This was her best singles result at a junior Grand Slam.
Professional Tennis Journey
Early Years and US Open Win
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CiCi started playing professional events in early 2014. She won a doubles title in Orlando in March. At the 2014 US Open, she was ranked No. 1208. She had only won two professional matches before. But she got a special entry as the junior national champion. She was the youngest woman in the main draw of a Grand Slam since 2005.
In her first big professional match, she surprised everyone. She beat the 12th seed, Dominika Cibulková. Cibulková had been a finalist at the Australian Open that year. This win made CiCi the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since 1996. She was also the youngest American to win there since 1986. She lost her next match in three sets to Zarina Diyas.
A month after the US Open, CiCi won her first two professional singles titles. She won them in South Carolina. In 2015, she played in the Miami Open. She beat Zarina Diyas in the second round. Then she lost to the world No. 1, Serena Williams. This helped CiCi enter the top 200 rankings for the first time. She reached a new high ranking of No. 152 that summer.
2016: Breaking into the Top 100
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CiCi started 2016 ranked No. 248. She slowly improved her ranking. At the Stanford Classic, she beat Jeļena Ostapenko. She reached her first quarterfinal on the WTA Tour. The next month, she played at the US Open. She reached the third round, doing better than two years before. She lost to the eventual champion, Angelique Kerber. Her strong performance helped her reach No. 120 in the world. This made her decide to become a full-time professional player.
As a professional, CiCi reached another quarterfinal in Canada. She then won her last three tournaments of the year. This included two $50k titles in Canada. These wins helped her enter the top 100 rankings for the first time. She then won the WTA 125 title at the Hawaii Open. She beat world No. 23 Zhang Shuai in the final. CiCi finished 2016 ranked No. 75. She was the only player under 18 in the top 100.
2017: Reaching the Top 50
CiCi missed the start of 2017 due to leg problems. She played her first main tournament at the Dubai Championships. There, she reached her first Premier 5 quarterfinal. She beat world No. 6, Agnieszka Radwańska, for her first win against a top-ten player. This made her the youngest American to beat a top-ten opponent since 2009.
CiCi then played her first clay-court season. She reached the quarterfinals in Morocco. She also made it to the third round at the French Open. She was one of only three American players aged 18 or under to go that far in Paris since 2000. She also had a good grass-court season. She reached her first WTA semifinal at the Mallorca Open. This success helped her reach No. 40 in the WTA rankings.
For the second year, CiCi had a great run at the Stanford Classic. She beat No. 14 Petra Kvitová to reach the semifinals. At the Rogers Cup, she beat No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova. This helped her reach her highest ranking of No. 35 in mid-August. CiCi won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award for her great year.
2018-2022: Injuries and Retirement
In 2018, CiCi beat world No. 5, Karolína Plíšková. She reached the quarterfinals at the Qatar Ladies Open. However, wrist and elbow injuries stopped her from playing after March. She had four surgeries on her wrist, arm, and elbow.
CiCi returned to tennis in November 2019. She had been away for 18 months due to her injuries. At the 2020 Australian Open, she beat the 22nd ranked Karolína Muchová. She then lost to world No. 17, Elise Mertens.
CiCi played her last match in November 2020. She announced her retirement from professional tennis on January 19, 2022.
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See also
In Spanish: Catherine Bellis para niños
