CiCi Bellis scores first victory since March 2018 in Houston
Ranked in the top-35 at the age of 18, Catherine CiCi Bellis was one of the most promising young guns a couple of years ago. Carving her path towards the very top of the WTA rankings, the young American started to struggle with elbow injuries and had to miss all the action since March last year, staying away from the court for 19 months and undergoing four surgeries! Determined to make a comeback and get back where she belongs, the San Francisco native stepped on the court again on Sunday, entering the qualifying draw of the Oracle Challenger Series 125K tournament in Houston and beating the top seed Alexa Glatch 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 24 minutes.
It was the first win for Bellis since Indian Wells 2018 and the youngster should be happy with the way she performed, getting broken three times but taking half of the return points to secure six breaks from no less than 14 opportunities. Bellis wasted break chances in the first game of the match to suffer a break in game two and fall behind, bouncing back with breaks in games three and five to stay on the positive side of the scoreboard since Glatch delivered another break in game four. From there, CiCi scored three easy holds and earned the third straight break in game seven, closing the opener at 5-4 and gathering boost ahead of set number two.
Claiming eight of the last ten games, CiCi forged a 3-1 advantage in set number two before Glatch broke back in the sixth game to stay in contention, only to squander a 40-0 lead in the next game that pushed Bellis in front again. The youngest confirmed the break with a comfortable hold in game eight and crossed the finish line with another break in game nine for the place in the main draw where she plays against Ellen Perez.
"It feels great," Bellis said. "Definitely was tough today as the first match back, but I’m glad to be back and ready to get on to the next one. The nerves and rust are going to be here for the next few tournaments. Today was pretty ugly tennis, but I’m glad I got through it. Everything is going to go up from here. I’m just really happy. It’s been awhile. I was definitely ready to be back, ready to be traveling again. I’m so happy to be out here."
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