By Chris Oddo | Friday June 23, 2017
18-year-old CiCi Bellis moved into the Mallorca Open semifinals with a straight-sets win over Kristyna Pliskova in Mallorca.
Photo Source: EFE
Comeback stories (Victoria Azarenka and Sabine Lisicki) and superstars (Roberta Vinci, Eugenie Bouchard) have all taken a back seat to up-and-coming 18-year-old CiCi Bellis at the Mallorca Open this week. The Athertonian, playing in her first tour-level event on grass, has stormed into the semifinals and will face Germany’s Julia Goerges for a spot in her first tour-level final.
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Bellis needed just 62 minutes to cruise past Kristyna Pliskova, winning 24 of 27 first-serve points to claim a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Bellis controlled the match with her second serve return, winning 18 of 23 such points and claiming four breaks on eight opportunities.
Goerges took out Sabine Lisicki, 6-2, 6-4, to reach her third semifinal of the season. The World No.54 created eleven break points against Lisicki’s vaunted serve, converting 7, to improve to 2-2 lifetime against her compatriot.
No.2-seeded Anastasija Sevastova (d. Konjuh, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5) and No.3-seeded Caroline Garcia (d. Vinci, 6-2, 7-6(8)) will meet in the lower half semifinal at Mallorca.