Bellis, whose middle name is Cartan, goes by “CiCi.” They are initials so often chanted at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx but on Tuesday they could be heard echoing at Court Six in Flushing Meadows, where Bellis stunned world No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, in front of a raucous crowd.
“It’s crazy to think that I’m actually here right now with all these other people,” Bellis, of Atherton, Calif., said after becoming the youngest woman to win here since 1996 (Anna Kournikova, also 15), three years before Bellis was born.
Bellis’ love for everything about her magical afternoon was on full display throughout the match, all the way until she broke Cibulkova, 25, on match point at 5:24 p.m., which sent the youngster bouncing to the bleachers to hug family and friends as if she had won much more.
Bellis had qualified as a wild-card entry only after winning this year’s USTA girls’ 18s national championship, where she was the youngest to win since Lindsay Davenport in 1991. She entered Tuesday’s match ranked 1,208th in the world, and so it was not only understandable but appropriate and refreshing to see Bellis fist-pumping after big points, including several long volleys she won with a strong forehand. “She’s having so much fun,” one fan noted.
Bellis’ key moment occurred in the third set, when she recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win three straight games.
Afterward, it took several security guards and event workers to separate the crowd of autograph-seekers blocking Bellis’ path back to nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium. She stood in the hallway holding her cell phone, trying to process the wave of text messages flooding in. “I can’t even count,” she said, scrolling endlessly downward with her thumb. “It’s still going.”
Then the home-schooled youngster, who counts Kim Clijsters as her idol, held court with the media for almost 15 minutes while her father filmed with a home video camera from the auditorium seats.
“I’m feeling amazing. I’m still speechless,” Bellis said. “I’m still in shock from the match.”
Bellis’ second-round opponent will be Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas, ranked No. 48 in the world, who made quick work on Tuesday — 6-1, 6-2 — of Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, world No. 128. But win or lose in the second round, Bellis has already made her mark on this year’s tournament. She still will compete in the U.S. Open juniors tournament and remain an amateur to keep college open as an option down the road.
Bellis’ triumph was an especially welcome highlight on Tuesday, because while 27th-ranked Madison Keys, the United States’ brightest youth prospect for Slam success, rolled past Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-0, 6-3, the young American men did not fare as well.
Jack Sock, ranked 55th, retired in the third set of a loss to Spain’s Pablo Andujar, losing 6-4, 3-6, 1-6, and Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre fell in his Slam debut to Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, 4-6, 3-6, 0-6.
On the bright side for the U.S., both Sloane Stephens and Keys have advanced to the second round. And there is a bubbly and resilient talent in Bellis — younger than all of them — who showed she embraces the big stage.
“Believing was the number one thing I had to do today,” Bellis said. “If you don’t believe, there’s one option, and if you do believe, then there’s two options. You can believe and lose or believe and win, but if you don’t believe, you’re gonna lose anyway.”
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