CiCi Bellis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
CiCi Bellis

Bellis at the 2015 Carlsbad Classic
Full name	Catherine Cartan Bellis
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Lake Nona, Florida
Born	(1999-04-08) April 8, 1999 (age 26) 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	1 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 became known for her amazing skills at a young age. In early 2018, she was one of the youngest players ranked in the top 100 worldwide.

CiCi reached her highest ranking of world No. 35 in August 2017. She made headlines at the 2014 US Open when she was just 15 years old. She won a match against a top-20 player, becoming the youngest person to win a match at the US Open since 1996.

Her biggest win was at the 2016 Hawaii Tennis Open. She also won seven singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In 2014, she was named the ITF Junior World Champion. This was because she was the top-ranked junior player in the world at the end of that year. She also won the USTA National Junior Championship in 2014. At 15, she was the youngest winner of that event since Lindsay Davenport in 1991.

CiCi Bellis's Early Life and Start in Tennis

CiCi Bellis was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in Hillsborough and Atherton. CiCi started playing tennis when she was only three years old. However, she also played soccer. When she was ten, she decided to focus only on tennis.

A former top-100 player, Monique Javer, coached CiCi when she was a child. CiCi always dreamed of going to college at Stanford. But her success as a teenager led her to become a professional player instead. Her tennis hero is Kim Clijsters.

CiCi Bellis's Junior Tennis Career

Bellis in 2013

As a junior player in the United States, CiCi Bellis won six USTA National Junior Singles Championships. She was ranked No. 1 in the G18s (Girls 18 and under) in April 2014.

CiCi started playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in late 2012. She mostly played in smaller tournaments until the end of 2013. Her biggest win in 2013 was at Les Petits As in France. This is a well-known tournament for junior players aged 12 to 14.

In 2014, CiCi played in the highest-level junior tournaments. She had a great start to the year. She reached the finals in her first five events and won four of them. These wins included the Copa del Café in Costa Rica and the Trofeo Bonfiglio in Italy. She also reached the doubles final at the French Open with Markéta Vondroušová. Even though she didn't win a Grand Slam singles event that year, she became the No. 1 ITF junior player in September. This was thanks to her four big titles.

In August 2014, CiCi won the USTA Girls' 18s National Championship. She beat Tornado Alicia Black in the final. At 15 years and four months old, she was the youngest winner of this event since Lindsay Davenport in 1991. This win also gave her a special entry, called a wildcard, into the main tournament of the US Open. CiCi, Tornado Black, and Sofia Kenin then played for the United States at the Junior Fed Cup. They won the title, and CiCi won all seven of her matches. She also reached the semifinals at the Orange Bowl later that year. CiCi finished 2014 as the 2014 ITF World Champion. She was only the second American girl since 1982 to be the year-end No. 1 junior player.

CiCi finished her junior career by reaching the semifinals at the 2015 French Open. This was her best singles result at a Grand Slam junior tournament. It was also the only junior event she played that year.

CiCi Bellis's Professional Tennis Journey

Starting Out: A Big Win at the US Open

Bellis at the 2015 Carlsbad Classic

CiCi Bellis played her first few professional tournaments in early 2014. She won a doubles title at a small event in Orlando in March. When she entered the 2014 US Open, she was ranked No. 1208. She had only won two professional singles matches before. But as the USTA junior national champion, she received a wildcard entry. This made her the youngest woman in a Grand Slam main tournament since 2005.

In her first big professional match, she surprised everyone. She upset the 12th seed, Dominika Cibulková, who had been a finalist at the Australian Open earlier that year. With this win, CiCi became the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996. She was also the youngest American to win a match at the US Open since 1986. She lost her next match in three sets to 20-year-old Zarina Diyas.

A month after the US Open, CiCi won her first two professional singles titles. These were back-to-back wins in South Carolina. In 2015, CiCi received another wildcard, this time for the Miami Open. She won against Zarina Diyas in the second round, getting revenge for her US Open loss. She then lost to the No. 1 player and eventual champion, Serena Williams. This helped CiCi enter the top 200 in the WTA rankings for the first time. She reached a new career-high ranking of No. 152 that summer.

2016: Breaking into the Top 100 and Winning a WTA Title

Bellis at the 2016 US Open

CiCi Bellis started 2016 ranked No. 248. She had a slow start but returned to the top 200 after playing in the Stanford Classic. She received a wildcard for this tournament. She defeated No. 38, Jeļena Ostapenko, and Sachia Vickery. She then lost to top seed Venus Williams. This was her first time reaching the quarterfinals of a WTA Tour event.

The next month, CiCi qualified for the main tournament of the US Open. She did even better than two years before, reaching the third round. There, she lost to the eventual champion, Angelique Kerber. Her strong performance pushed her to a new career-high ranking of No. 120. This success helped her decide to become a professional player.

In her first tournament as a pro, CiCi reached another WTA Tour quarterfinal at the Tournoi de Québec. She then won her final three tournaments of the year. This included two $50k titles in Canada. These wins helped her enter the top 100 for the first time. CiCi then won her first 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 and Winning Newcomer of the Year

Bellis at the 2017 French Open

CiCi Bellis had to miss the Australian hard-court season in January due to leg problems. She played her first main tournament of the year at the Dubai Championships. There, she reached her first Premier 5 quarterfinal. She defeated world No. 6, Agnieszka Radwańska, for her first win against a top-ten player. She then lost to Caroline Wozniacki. This win made CiCi the youngest American to beat a top-ten opponent since 2009.

CiCi played her first WTA Tour clay-court season. She reached the quarterfinals at the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco. She also made it to the third round of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open. She was one of only three American players aged 18 or younger to get this far in Paris since 2000. CiCi also had a good grass-court season. She reached her first WTA semifinal at the Mallorca Open. This success on different surfaces helped her reach No. 40 in the WTA rankings.

For the second year in a row, CiCi had a great run at the Stanford Classic. She easily beat No. 14 Petra Kvitová to reach the semifinals. She then lost to fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe. She also played at the Rogers Cup. There, she got her second top-ten win, this time against No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova. This helped her reach a career-high ranking of No. 35 in mid-August. Even though she ended the season with a few losses, CiCi won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award. This award recognized her rise in the rankings and her strong play on all court types.

2018: Dealing with Injuries

CiCi Bellis defeated world No. 5, Karolína Plíšková, and reached the quarterfinals at the Qatar Ladies Open. However, ongoing wrist and elbow injuries kept CiCi from playing after March. She had four surgeries in June, September, November 2018, and March 2019 on her wrist, arm, and elbow.

2019–2020: Comeback and Retirement

CiCi Bellis returned to tennis in November 2019 at the Houston Challenger. This was after 18 months away from the game due to her injuries. She lost in the third round to the eventual champion, Kirsten Flipkens.

At the 2020 Australian Open, CiCi defeated 22nd-ranked Karolína Muchová in the second round. She then lost to world No. 17, Elise Mertens.

CiCi played her last match on the ITF Circuit in November 2020. On January 19, 2022, she announced her retirement from professional tennis on Instagram.

Grand Slam Performance Highlights

CiCi Bellis played in the biggest tennis tournaments, called Grand Slams. Here's how she did in singles and doubles:

Singles Grand Slam Results

CiCi played in the main draw of the Australian Open twice, reaching the third round in 2020. She played in the French Open twice, reaching the third round in 2017. She played Wimbledon once, losing in the first round. At the US Open, she played three times, reaching the second round in 2014 and the third round in 2016.

Doubles Grand Slam Results

In doubles, CiCi played in the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon once (reaching the quarterfinals), and the US Open twice.

CiCi Bellis's Titles and Wins

CiCi Bellis won one WTA Challenger title and seven singles titles on the ITF Circuit. She also won two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

WTA Challenger Singles Title

CiCi won the Hawaii Open in November 2016.

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Nov 2016	Hawaii Open, United States	Hard	Zhang Shuai	6–4, 6–2

ITF Circuit Singles Finals

CiCi won 7 singles titles and was a runner-up once on the ITF Circuit. All her wins were on hard courts.

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 2014	ITF Rock Hill, United States	25,000	Hard	Lauren Embree	6–4, 6–0
Win	2–0	Oct 2014	ITF Florence, United States	25,000	Hard	Ysaline Bonaventure	6–2, 6–1
Win	3–0	Feb 2015	Rancho Santa Fe Open, United States	25,000	Hard	Maria Sanchez	6–2, 6–0
Loss	3–1	Feb 2016	ITF Surprise, United States	25,000	Hard	Jamie Loeb	6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Win	4–1	Jun 2016	ITF Sumter, United States	25,000	Hard	Valeria Solovyeva	6–1, 6–3
Win	5–1	Oct 2016	Challenger de Saguenay, Canada	50,000	Hard (i)	Bianca Andreescu	6–4, 6–2
Win	6–1	Nov 2016	Toronto Challenger, Canada	50,000	Hard (i)	Jesika Malečková	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
Win	7–1	Oct 2020	Tennis Classic of Macon, United States	80,000	Hard	Marta Kostyuk	6–4, 6–7(4), ret.

ITF Circuit Doubles Finals

CiCi won two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Mar 2014	ITF Orlando, United States	10,000	Clay	Alexis Nelson	Sally Peers Natalie Pluskota	6–2, 0–6, [11–9]
Win	2–0	Feb 2016	Midland Tennis Classic, United States	100,000	Hard (i)	Ingrid Neel	Naomi Broady Shelby Rogers	6–2, 6–4

Junior Grand Slam Doubles Final

CiCi Bellis reached one Grand Slam final in junior doubles.

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2014	French Open	Clay	Markéta Vondroušová	Ioana Ducu Ioana Loredana Roșca	1–6, 7–5, [9–11]

Wins Against Top-10 Players

CiCi Bellis won 3 matches against players ranked in the top 10 in the world.

Here are her wins against top-10 players:

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	CCB Rk
2017
1.	Agnieszka Radwańska	No. 6	Dubai Championships	Hard	3R	6–4, 4–6, 6–2	No. 70
2.	Svetlana Kuznetsova	No. 8	Canadian Open	Hard	2R	6–4, 7–5	No. 36
2018
3.	Karolína Plíšková	No. 5	Qatar Ladies Open	Hard	3R	7–6(7–4), 6–3	No. 48

See also

In Spanish: Catherine Bellis para niños