Last year, following Roland Garros, I wrote an article very critical of Cici Bellis' decision to play in the junior French Open tournament. You can go back and read the article for yourself, and the accompanying comment section featuring an argument I got into with Bellis' mother, but I really felt as though Bellis was hurting her career, and damaging the sport, by occasionally continuing to play in junior tournaments. Well, I am happy to be able to now write a post praising Cici for great results and scheduling in the right manner.
Bellis, this year especially, is really putting in the work on the ITF level of women's tennis, which is exactly how she should be going about her business. In my opinion, Bellis got a little full of herself, and this lead to overconfidence which was eventually lost when the results didn't come on a consistent basis. This led me to question whether her win over Dominka Cibulkova at the US Open was merely a fluke. However, she has shown great growth with her game this year.
Starting out the year with a Quarterfinals appearance at a $25,000 tournament at Daytona Beach, Bellis used this result to buoy her to a successful year and a more mature mindset this year, as well. Bellis didn't let a Round of 16 loss in Wesley Chapel get her down, as she beat Tatjana Maria (currently number 104 in live rankings) in Midland, a huge, confidence-boosting win. And while Bellis lost in the following round in Midland, the win over Maria once again, as the 2014 Cibulkova victory and her tournament wins previously have shown, that she had what it takes to play tennis at a very high level.
Despite ultimately losing, CiCi's run to the Final of the February $25,000 event in Surprise, Arizona was very impressive. Bellis won a set 6-0 on three different occasions in that tournament and did not drop a set until the Final. In that Final, Bellis even won the first set, meaning that she was won set away from another singles title at the $25,000 level. Even so, This was a great week for Cici and showed that she was starting to return to the level of play that excited so many Americans at the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015.
Another Quarterfinals appearance at a $25,000 tournament was in the cards for Bellis following the run in Surprise, but after this, Bellis went into a little bit of a rut. She lost early in the next four tournaments she played. And while she manage to get a set off of Monica Puig in Miami, she did lose that match, and ultimately, winning a set and winning a match are two entirely different manners. It seemed, following a three set loss to Shelby Rogers in Indian Harbor Beach (a $75,000 tournament) that Bellis might never advance to the level of play needed to be a mainstay on the WTA Tour. However, as her recent results show, Bellis might be finally ready for a breakthrough.
When Bellis went to Naples, Florida to play a $25,000 tournament, it must have been hard on her. This tournament was played the same week as the qualifying tournament for the French Open. Just the year prior, Bellis had been in Paris, playing in the qualifying draw and (to my ire), playing in the junior draw too. So, to go from playing from playing on the grounds of Roland Garros the previous year to playing in a small tournament in Florida was probably humiliating to Bellis. If she still had any of the arrogance that I believe to have been part of her downward turn in results, this most likely zapped of the arrogance that was left.
And perhaps this was the wake-up call that CiCi needed, for she played quite well in this tournament. During this tournament, Bellis won three sets 6-0, including a double-bagel in the First Round of the tournament. She only lost one set on her ways to the semis, and while she did lose that semifinal match fellow American Kayla Day, Bellis had obviously made strides in the right direction with her results in Naples.
CiCi then did something that she hasn't done since 2014, which is post consecutive semifinal-or-better results. Bellis took some time off from tournament play following her good showing in Naples, before returning the court last week with a $25,000 tournament in Sumter, South Carolina. Bellis dominated the field in Sumter, winning all five of her matches in straight sets. This included the Final, where Bellis only lost four games in a resounding victory over Valeria Solovyeva. This was CiCi's first tournament victory since a tournament win in Rancho Santa Fe in the beginning of 2015 and Bellis' fourth ITF tournament, overall. CiCi Bellis finally seems to have figured out how to be a professional tennis player.
Now, you might be asking yourself, why is this tournament victory different than the previous three that Bellis had won? I believe this is because Bellis has finally undergone some adversity in her career, as opposed to when she first burst upon the scene in 2014. Bellis beat Cibulkova in just her fifth tournament ever as a professional player, and this included tournaments as low as the $10,000 level.
Just two tournaments after her spectacular win at Flushing Meadows, and her seventh overall, she won her first tournament at a $25,000 event in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Then, in her next event, she won another $25,000 title in Florence, South Carolina. Then, not too much later, Bellis won her third event ever at yet another $25,000, this time in Rancho Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was your classic example of a player experiencing huge amounts of success without having the maturity that the situation called for.
And that's why, as saddening as CiCi's decreased results were, I believe they were, ultimately, necessary in order for her to have a successful career. I believe the poor results that eventually struck Bellis provided her with the adversity needed to remember that being a professional tennis player isn't so easy. I think that her mediocre to poor results during much of 2015, and some of 2016, helped to give Bellis a different perspective on what a professional tennis has to go through, and will be invaluable to her throughout her career.
That's why, seeing Bellis fight through these problems, and have the successful results that she was once accustomed to, is so rewarding as an American tennis fan. Despite the setbacks, Bellis has continued to fight, and her hard work is finally being rewarded. I think that that Bellis almost certainly looks at her run in Sumter with a better appreciation than she did for her previous titles.
Today, CiCi Bellis won her opening match in yet another $25,000 tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However, if what I see from Bellis' results hold true, her time at the $25,000 level will be ending shortly. CiCi Bellis will be a WTA-level professional tennis player in the near future.
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