American Bellis Continues to Roll at U.S. Open

August 29, 2016 | By Brian Coleman

American teenager CiCi Bellis continued to blow past opponents in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday, rolling past Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-3 to win her fourth consecutive match in Flushing Meadows.

Bellis became the U.S. Open darling two years ago when she shocked Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round at the age of 15 after receiving a wild card into the main draw from winning the USTA Hard Court Championships. This year, Bellis had to come through qualifiers to reach the main draw, something that has helped her game.

“I think just playing those extra few matches have made me so much more comfortable,” said Bellis. “Just getting used to the surface of the courts and playing on them in general is a big advantage for me.

That certainly seemed to be the case on Monday as Bellis wasted no time booking her spot in the second round. She broke Golubic three times in route to a 6-2 opening set win in just 36 minutes, and followed it up with four break points in the second set to move through in one hour and 17 minutes.

Up next for Bellis is fellow American Shelby Rogers, who won the only career meeting between the two earlier this year. Rogers knocked off 27th-seeded Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 7-6(3).

“I haven’t thought about it that much yet,” Bellis said when asked to look ahead to her second round match. “I just went out and practiced. I’ll think about it more tonight and tomorrow, but am just going to focus on myself and my game.”

French Open champion and third-seed Garbine Muguruza came back from a set down to upend Belgium’s Elise Mertens, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 and reach the second round. The Spaniard moves on to play Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Monday.


Brian Coleman

 Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com

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