By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, August 26, 2014
15-year-old CiCi Bellis stunned Dominika Cibulkova to become the youngest player to win at the U.S. Open in 18 years.
Photo Source: Getty
File this under stunner. 15-year-old American wild card CiCi Bellis knocked off this year’s Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in three sets on Day 2 to become the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
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The American’s 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory sets up a second-round clash with Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
"I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience, but I never thought I would come out on top winning," Bellis told reporters after the match.
Bellis, who earned her wild card by winning the USTA’s 18-and-younger National Playoff, also becomes the youngest American to win a match at the US Open since Mary Joe Fernandez reached the third round as a 14-year-old in 1986.
As the match progressed, the scene on Court 6 became quite frenzied. Fans packed in like sardines to watch the Atherton, California native make her own slice of US Open history. ESPN, the main provider for the US Open in the United States, even moved cameras over to the court (normally not television-ready) in order to bring the action to its viewers.
Bellis didn’t disappoint. She cracked winners aggressively, taking the play to Cibulkova until finally closing out the colossal upset as the crowd went wild.
Afterwards, she gave an impromptu interview to ESPN’s Darren Cahill. “I have no words,” said Bellis. “I’m so happy to be here. I can’t believe I got through that.”
Twitter was buzzing with excitement about the world No. 1208 (no that is not a typo--1208!). Here’s a sample of the Bellis-mania we came across: