U.S. Open darling CiCi Bellis wins her juniors tourney opener
The darling of the U.S. Open, 15-year-old CiCi Bellis, opened her pursuit of the junior girls' crown with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mexico's Renata Zarazua.
Bellis, the top-seeded girl, was never threatened. During one point, Zarazua's racket flew from her hand and she playfully tried to keep hitting the ball with her bare hand.
Bellis played on the grandstand court, Flushing Meadows' third-largest venue, to accommodate her following after her performance in the main draw.
She became the youngest player to win a U.S. Open match since 1996 with her first-round upset of 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, the Australian Open runner-up. Fans waited in line for hours to see her play her second-round match, which the 1,208th-ranked Bellis lost in three sets to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
