Bellis returns, Arconada & Montgomery to debut at 2020 US Open

Six years after bursting onto the world tennis scene as a 15-year-old wild card at the 2014 US Open, CiCi Bellis will be back in New York this summer. Now 21, the former world No. 35 is one of seven Americans to receive a main-draw wild card for the 2020 US Open. Bellis returns to the US Open field for the first time since 2017, with wrist and elbow injuries plaguing her in recent years.

The full wild-card list includes Americans Usue Arconada, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Caroline Dolehide, Ann Li, Robin Montgomery and Whitney Osuigwe, plus Belgium's Kim Clijsters.

Montgomery, 15, is the youngest recipient across both the men's and women's singles events. Montgomery, who won her first pro singles title at an ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Las Vegas in March, closed out the 2019 season with a trophy flourish, winning the prestigious Orange Bowl girls' 18s title shortly after winning the Junior Fed Cup title with Team USA. She is currently the No. 1 American junior, sitting at a career-high ranking of No. 5.

Osuigwe, a former world No. 1 junior and the 2017 French Open girls' singles champ, is the only other teen to receive a wild card.

Montgomery, Arconada and Li will all be making their US Open main-draw debuts. Li made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the Australian Open this year, reaching the second round. For Montgomery and Arconada, the US Open will be their first main-draw appearance at a major.

Here's more on the American wild cards:

Arconada, 21, of Naples, Fla., is ranked No. 138. She partnered with Dolehide to win doubles gold at the Pan American Games last summer and won three pro singles titles in 2019, two W25-level tournaments and the W60 in Honolulu.

Bellis, 21, of Orlando, Fla., is ranked No. 304. She is a former world No. 35 who was named the WTA’s Newcomer of the Year in 2017. She missed nearly 20 months of play while undergoing wrist and elbow surgeries, returning to action in November 2019 and reaching the Australian Open third round in January.

Di Lorenzo, 23, of New Albany, Ohio, is ranked No. 128 and won her first ITF W60-level singles title in 2019. She turned pro in 2017 after two standout seasons at Ohio State, where she was a two-time All-American and won the NCAA doubles title as a sophomore.

Dolehide, 21, of Orlando, Fla., is ranked No. 134. A 2019 US Open doubles semifinalist, Dolehide won two ITF W60-level singles titles in 2019 and brought home the singles silver and doubles gold medals from the Pan American Games last summer in Lima, Peru.

Li, 20, of Devon, Pa., is ranked No. 131. She is a former Wimbledon girls’ singles finalist who qualified and reached the Australian Open second round in January. She won 44 pro singles matches in 2019 and reached the finals of three ITF tournaments at the W60 level and above.

Montgomery, 15, of Washington, D.C., is ranked No. 600 professionally and No. 5 in the juniors. A product of the National Junior Tennis & Learning chapter at the JTCC in College Park, Md., Montgomery led the U.S. to the 16-and-under Junior Fed Cup title and won the Orange Bowl girls’ 18s title in 2019. She won her first pro singles title at a W25 event in March in Las Vegas.

Osuigwe, 18, of Bradenton, Fla., is ranked No. 143. A former world junior No. 1 and the 2017 French Open girls’ singles champion, Osuigwe won her second career pro singles title in 2019, at a W80-level event in Charlottesville, Va.

Photo: CiCi Bellis reacts during her women's singles second round match against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic at the 2020 Australian Open. (Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)