CiCi Bellis couldn’t pull off another upset, couldn’t match Tuesday’s miracle comeback. The 15-year-old darling of the U.S. Open left Flushing with a gut-wrenching second-round loss, but also with the eyes of the sport on her as well, going from unknown to one of the bright young lights of the sport.
After becoming the youngest player to win a match at the U.S. Open since 1996 — and the youngest American since a decade earlier — Bellis’ magic ran out against Zarina Diyas. The more experienced Diyas withstood Bellis’ second-set blitz to earn a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 win, but Bellis had earned the national spotlight — and praise by some as the possible future of America women’s tennis.
“Unbelievable,” said Bellis, who stunned not only the tennis world but herself. “This whole experience has been unbelievable, like mind-blowing. It’s been crazy. It’s been like the best couple days of my life.
“I think just playing my first US Open and just having that under my belt, then it will be easier the next time I play. … What surprised me is that I could really stay with these pros. And I think if I’d played a little bit better, it would’ve been a different result. But, yeah, definitely just that I can play with them is really good.’’
The 15-year-old Bellis, who entered the tournament ranked 1,208th and was playing in her first tour-level event, earned a wild-card invitation by winning the USTA Girls’ 18s national championship, the youngest to do so since Lindsay Davenport in 1991. Bellis also became a national story by knocking off No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova Tuesday.
Bellis became a becoming a trending topic on Twitter, and, despite her father Gordon’s attempt to limit her media exposure, the biggest teen girl sensation since Philadelphia Little Leaguer Mo’ne Davis. Oh, and Bellis is being talked about as the future of the sport in this county, a goal she doesn’t shy away from.
“[The nicest thing] is just people saying that I’m going to be the future of American tennis. That’s what I’ve wanted to be since I was a little kid. I think that definitely makes me want to, you know, work really hard and try to become that,’’ said Bellis, adding — for the record — little kid means 7.
But on Thursday, Bellis faced a more experienced foe, and it showed. Though Diyas is just 20, she’s one of the world’s most gifted young players and a veteran of 10 Grand Slam matches, including having reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
When Bellis stormed back to win seven games in a row at one point Thursday, it was Diyas that reached down to settle herself and retake the momentum.
As for Bellis, she models her game after Kim Clijsters, looks up to Serena Williams and took up the sport to follow her mother Lori, who played a year at Indiana.
Lori couldn’t stand to watch Bellis in person — “she gets too nervous,’’ the teen said — and Bellis herself showed some early nerves, but quickly settled in to attack Diyas’ weak second serve.
Bellis dominated the second set 6-0, painting several nervy shots down the line. But after she got broken and fell behind 3-1 in the third set — the same position she found herself when she stormed back to beat Cibulkova – there would be no stunning rally this time.
“On the court, [the pros] compete a lot better than juniors. They’re a lot more focused, for sure,’’ Bellis said. “Ranking really doesn’t matter. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. And so, definitely ranking has no bearing on the match. Whoever comes out and plays better that day is going to win, for sure.’’
Diyas was gracious in victory.
“It was a very tough match. CiCi played unbelievable,” she said. “CiCi has great potential. I think experience a little helped me, especially in the third set. I stayed more focused, and tried to stay more focused on my game.’’