Pro Media & News

CiCI Bellis wins in Macon as USTA Pro Circuit returns

Arthur Kapetanakis | October 26, 2020


American CiCi Bellis marked the return of the USTA Pro Circuit with a singles title at the ITF World Tennis Tour W80 event in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday. It also marked a return to winning ways for the 21-year-old, who claimed her first professional title since November 2016. 

 

An unseeded wild card, Bellis dropped just one set in her five-match title run, in Sunday's final against No. 6 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. The championship match finished at 6-4, 6-7 (4), ret., after Kostyuk pulled out with cramps early in the deciding set.

 

“There wasn’t much between us out there," Bellis, who trains at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, said after the match. "I tried to be super aggressive and that paid off. Everyone is so good at this level and it’s a few points that make the difference.”

 

Sunday's victory improved her record in professional finals to 8-1, as she won her seventh ITF singles title to go along with one WTA 125K trophy. Bellis is also 2-0 in ITF doubles finals, giving her 10 combined titles in her young career. 

 

In Macon, she also defeated Varvara Lepchenko in an all-American semifinal and Sara Errani, the former world No. 5 and 2012 Roland Garros finalist, in the quarters.

 

It was the fifth tournament of the post-suspension restart for Bellis, who made a successful return to the US Open (where she played for the first time since 2017) by reaching Round 2 in early September. Previously in 2020, she reached Round 3 at the Australian Open, equaling her career-best result at a Grand Slam.

 

After rising to a WTA career-high of No. 35 in August of 2017, the San Francisco native was plagued by injuries and underwent four surgeries to remedy wrist, arm and elbow issues. She missed more than 18 months of action from 2018-19 before returning last November.

 

READ MORE: CiCi Bellis is back for the 2020 US Open (USOpen.org)

 

In addition to Bellis and Lepchenko, also making deep runs in Macon were American quarterfinalists Francesca Di Lorenzo and Sachia Vickery. Di Lorenzo also teamed with Jamie Loeb to win the W80 doubles title, with the U.S. duo defeating the Polish pairing of Magdalena Frech and Katarzyna Kawa, 7-5, 6-1, in the final.

 

Sixteen-year-old Robin Montgomery was also a doubles champion last week, after she teamed with France's Selena Janicijevic to win the ITF WTT W25 event in Reims, France. (READ MORE: Stock rising for Robin Montgomery)

 

Back stateside, the USTA Pro Circuit continues this week with action from Tyler, Texas. Live streaming for the event will be available from Tuesday. Visit our USTA Pro Circuit homepage for more information.

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