U.S. Open tennis: 15-year-old CiCi Bellis’ unexpected US Open run ends
NEW YORK – CiCi Bellis, the first 15-year-old since 1996 to win a U.S. Open match, could not follow that up with another victory, losing in the second round Thursday night.
Bellis, a Californian who is ranked 1,208th and playing in her first tour-level event, won seven games in a row during one stretch but wound up getting beaten 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 by 48th-ranked Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
“Maybe it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to, but thank you, everybody, for coming out and watching,” Bellis told the overflowing and wildly supportive crowd in an on-court interview.
“It was amazing. I mean, I never thought I’d be here.”
Bellis earned a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association by winning the USTA Girls’ 18-U National Championship, the youngest to do since Lindsay Davenport also won it at 15 in 1991.
On Tuesday, Bellis grabbed headlines by surprisingly eliminating 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, the runner-up at the Australian Open in January. That made the home-schooled Bellis the youngest player to win in New York since Anna Kournikova, 18 years ago.
It also made her the sort of made-in-a-minute modern star who collects Twitter followers by the thousands and can’t walk far without having items thrust at her for autographs.
“This whole thing has been such a great experience,” Bellis said.
Serena wins in return to doubles
Playing doubles for the first time since her odd, three-game appearance at Wimbledon, Serena Williams teamed with older sister Venus to win a match at the U.S. Open.
Bidding for their 14th Grand Slam doubles title, but first at Flushing Meadows since 2009, the siblings beat seventh-seeded Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (0), 6-7 (4), 6-1 in the first round.
On July 1, in the second round of Wimbledon doubles, Serena looked disoriented during warmups, having trouble grabbing tennis balls tossed to her by ballkids. After four consecutive double-faults in one game, she quit. The reason given was that she was ill.
Both Williams sisters are into the third round of singles at the U.S. Open this year.
Isner to face Kohlschreiber
John Isner is back in the U.S. Open’s third round, so that can only mean one thing for the highest-ranked American man: a match against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The 13th-seeded Isner hit 30 aces and saved the only break point he faced in a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 victory over 77th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany at Flushing Meadows.
In a real – and, as Isner put it, “bizarre” – example of the luck of the draw, he now will face the 22nd-seeded Kohlschreiber, who advanced when his opponent, Michael Llodra, stopped because of an injured left elbow.
It will be the third year in a row Isner plays the same guy, Kohlschreiber, in the same round at the U.S. Open. Kohlschreiber eliminated Isner in 2012 and 2013.
Ivanovic out in second round
Eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic is out of the U.S. Open.
Ivanovic, who had been having her best season since winning the French Open in 2008, lost to Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.
Ivanovic had 47 match wins coming into Flushing Meadows, the most of any woman on the tour this year. But she was unable to find a rhythm against Pliskova, a tall, big-hitting Czech ranked No. 42.
Ivanovic struggled repeatedly with first serves and sprayed 39 unforced errors off her ground strokes.
Ivanovic failed to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time this year. She is the highest seed to fall after No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Peng Shuai in the second round.