Updated 09:58 AM EDT, Thu, Mar 28, 2024

US Open Tennis Cup 2014 News: 15-year-old CiCi Bellis Defeats Dominika Cibulkova

  • +
  • -
  • Sign up to receive the lastest news from LATINONE

Fifteen-year-old American tennis player CiCi Bellis stunned 12th-seeded Dominica Cibulkova at a US Open match on Tuesday at Flushing Meadows.

It was a 6-1, 4-6,6-4 victory for Bellis who, according to AP Sports, is ranked 1,208 in the tournament.

Her father, Gordon Bellis, could not help but become emotional as he watched his daughter's awesome performance on the court.

''I'm told I cannot sigh and I cannot move or say anything (because) that distracts her, so I just have to sit there like a Sphinx and just smile and pray. She hears me when I sigh. So I can't sigh,'' Gordon told AP Sports.

He added that Bellis' mother, Lori, refused to watch the match because she becomes "too nervous" watching her daughter play live and just ended up staying at a hotel where she just received updates through text messages.

''She asked how bad it was going in the first set. And so I told her (CiCi) actually won the first set. She couldn't believe that. We were just thankful that she didn't get double-bageled. That was the first objective,'' Gordon noted.

The current 10th grader Bellis is just one of the normal kids in the United States who admits that she has loved tennis ever since she was a kid. She shared with AP Sports that she loved watching Maria Sharapova play. Bellis also admits she once admired Justin Bieber. ''I used to like him when I was younger, a couple years ago.''

Her win on Tuesday against Cibulkova on Day 2 of the US Open was "most surprising" according to AP Sports because she was facing an older and way more experienced player who was a runner-up at the Australian Open earlier this year.

''Believing was the No. 1 thing that I had to do today. That's what my coach told me before the match also: Just go out there and believe that you can win," Bellis explained.

She added that the match was "such a great experience" for her adding that she never thought that she would be the one victorious in the match.

AP Sports said the teen's future plans include participating in the junior tournament in New York where she was defeated during the third round last year. According to USA Today, Bellis made her way to the US Open when she beat Tornado Alicia Black during the girl's 18 nationals making her the youngest winner under the age of 18.

For her part, Cibulkova said that she didn't expect Bellis to play that well. "I thought she's kind of a player who's just putting the ball back and running around. That didn't happen today. She was really aggressive on the court and that maybe surprised me in the first set,'' she told AP Sports.

© 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
  • Sign up to receive the lastest news from LATINONE
Close

Curiosidades

Real Time Analytics