Catherine Cartan "CiCi" Bellis (born April 8, 1999) is an American tennis player.
Bellis has won one singles title on the WTA tour and six singles and two doubles titles on the ITF tour in her career. On November 28, 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 75. On September 12, 2016, she peaked at world number 243 in the doubles rankings.
Bellis was ranked the number one junior tennis player in the world in September 2014, and was declared 2014 ITF Junior World Champion.
In August 2014, Bellis won the USTA Girls 18's National Championship, defeating Tornado Alicia Black in the final in straight sets. With this victory, she became the youngest winner of the event (at 15 years, 4 months) since Lindsay Davenport in 1991, and also earned a wild card into the main draw of the 2014 US Open.
Bellis's 2014 ITF junior season was highlighted by winning the Grade A Trofeo Bonfiglio and the Grade B1 Easter Bowl tournaments, victories that helped propel her to the number one ranking in the girls' juniors in September. She finished the year ranked No. 1 and was named the 2014 ITF Junior World Champion.
Early years
In the first round of the 2014 US Open, Bellis, ranked #1208 and playing in only her 13th professional match, upset the 12th seed Dominika Cibulková, the runner-up at the Australian Open earlier in the year, to become the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova won at age 15 in 1996. She was the youngest American to win a match at the US Open since Mary Joe Fernández in 1986, the youngest woman in the main draw of a Grand Slam since Alizé Cornet at the 2005 French Open, and the youngest in the main draw of the US Open since 2004. Bellis was unable to win her next match, losing in three sets to 20 year old Zarina Diyas in round two.
In 2015, Bellis received a wildcard into the main draw of the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament in Miami. She beat Indy De Vroome in the first round before avenging her US Open loss against Diyas in the second round. In the third round, she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams.
2016: Top 100, First WTA title
In the summer of 2016, Bellis received a wild card into the 2016 Bank of the West Classic Premier tournament, where she defeated Jeļena Ostapenko and Sachia Vickery en route to reaching her first WTA singles quarterfinal, before losing to top seed Venus Williams. The following month, she returned to the main draw of the US Open, this time as a qualifier. She beat Viktorija Golubic and Shelby Rogers to reach the third round for the first time in her career, where she lost to the eventual champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets.
After her performance at the US Open, Bellis turned professional. In her first tournament as a pro, Bellis entered the Coupe Banque Nationale and reached her second career WTA quarterfinal after wins over Amandine Hesse and Danielle Lao. She was eventually defeated by compatriot Julia Boserup.
Towards the end of the season, Bellis caught fire and won her final three tournaments of the year. This included two ITF 50K events at Saguenay over Bianca Andreescu and at Toronto against Jesika Malečková. With these victories, she moved into the Top 100 for the first time. Bellis then proceeded to extend her match win streak to 14 by winning her first WTA event at the Hawaii Tennis Open in Honolulu. She capped off the tournament with a huge win in the final over world number 23 Zhang Shuai. Bellis finished the year ranked No. 75 and the only player under 18 in the Top 100.
Key | W | F | SF | QF | R# | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam Tournaments |
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 0% |
| French Open | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 0% |
| US Open | 2R | Q3 | 3R | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Win–Loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Career statistics |
| Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0% |
| Year-end Ranking | 257 | 248 | 75 | $354,922 |