CiCi Bellis

CiCi Bellis has all her attention focused on tennis, and she does not plan to go to college. She was home-schooled since she was 12 years old. Regarding her decision of not going to college, she states that she considers college as her “plan B” and that she cannot imagine herself doing anything else apart from playing tennis.

She is an outgoing person and loves to hang out with friends in her spare time. Other than tennis, she enjoys swimming and has a pool and a tennis court at her Atherton residence in California, where she lives with her family.

CiCi is very open about her private life. She recently tweeted about having a boyfriend, which became quite some news for the entertainment media.

CiCi Bellis was born Catherine Cartan Bellis, in San Francisco, California, on April 8, 1999. Her father, Gordon, worked as an equity-fund agent, and her mother, Lori, was a tennis player in her younger days. Inspired by Lori’s love for tennis, CiCi started gaining a keen interest in the sport. The mother-daughter duo would often watch matches at their local clubs.

CiCi picked up a tennis racket for the first time when she was four years old, but she never quite wanted to build a career in the sport. She was good in academics and her mother wanted to keep it that way. However, after Bellis turned 11, she became increasingly attracted toward a career in tennis. The family’s financial condition allowed CiCi to be trained by the best coaches, and she eventually rose to become a young tennis star.

CiCi was home-schooled since sixth grade, to help her manager her studies with the sport.

CiCi became active in the sport as soon as she entered her teenage years. Initially, she focused on the junior tennis scene in the US. She ended up winning five ‘USTA National Junior Singles Championships’ and also attained the top rank in the ‘US G18s’ in 2014.

At the age of 15, she won the ‘USTA Girls’ 18s National Championship,’ defeating Tornado Alicia Black in straight sets. This victory not only earned her a wild-card entry into the 2014 ‘US Open’ but also made her the youngest player to win the ‘USTA National Championship,’ since Lindsay Davenport’s win in 1991.

By the end of the year, she was named the 2014 ‘ITF Junior World Champion’ and ended the year with the top rank in the girls’ junior rankings. Having played only 13 professional matches prior to this feat, she excelled in the 2014 ‘US Open’ with a remarkable win over Dominika Cibulkova, a player ranked much higher than her.

Soon, she became the youngest-ever girl to have scored a win in the ‘US Open’ since Anna Kournikova, the former top-ranked tennis player. However, she could not continue her winning streak in the tournament, and lost her next match to Zarina Diyas. In 2015, she avenged her ‘US Open’ defeat by winning a match against Zarina in the ‘WTA Premier Mandatory Tournament’ in 2015. She reached the third round, where she lost to Serena Williams, who also ended up winning the tournament later.

She made her next wild-card entry in the 2016 ‘Bank of the West Classic Premier Tournament,’ which was the first international tournament where she entered the quarterfinals. On the road to the semifinals, she lost to top-ranked Venus Williams. However, CiCi’s remarkable performance managed to impress many. She was yet to be 18 and was already scoring wins over players much above her in both rank and experience.