By Tennis Now | Saturday, August 5, 2017

CiCi Bellis once considered a collegiate career at Stanford.

The 18-year-old from Atherton returned to the Stanford campus to school Petra Kvitova.

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Bellis needed just 62 minutes to dismiss Kvitova, 6-2, 6-0, and burst into her first career WTA semifinal at the Bank of the West Classic.

“I think this is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career,” Bellis said. “I’m just really happy with how I played, and really excited I was able to get through it.

“I don’t think Kvitova played her best tennis, but on my side I feel like just played a real unbelieveable match, from my standings.”

Bellis, who lives five minutes from Stanford, wasted no time breezing through the opening set. She snapped off her first ace to seal a one-set lead.

Quick court coverage, unerring consistency and astute use of angles to drag the power player from the center of the court were keys for Bellis. An erratic Kvitova committed 26 unforced errors—17 more than her teenage opponent.

The eighth-seeded Bellis will play 24th-ranked compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe for a spot in her first final.

Vandeweghe pounded out a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first semifinal since the Australian Open in January when she fell to Venus Williams, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.

The sixth-seeded Vandeweghe is playing for her second trip to the Stanford final. She was runner-up to Serena Williams in 2012.

Three American women reached the final four in Stanford.

Madison Keys stopped seventh-seeded Lesia Tsurenko, 6-4, 6-3. The third-seeded Keys will play Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza for a place in the final.

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