Cici Bellis, the 2017 WTA Newcomer of the Year, announced her decision to retire on Instagram after not playing a match since November 2020. Bellis has revealed that persistent wrist and elbow injuries, which have plagued her since 2018, are the primary reason for her retirement at just 22 years old. The San Francisco native is now working as an investment analyst for a venture capital firm focusing on sports and health technology start-ups and finishing her degree in business and finance.
The Career of CiCi Bellis
Bellis broke onto the scene in 2014, when she upset 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of that year’s US Open at just 15 years old. The American won a US Open wild card earlier that month when she won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship. Bellis then reached Junior No. 1 later that year despite not reaching any slam finals.
In 2015, Bellis received a wild card to Miami which she repaid with a run to the third round that was ended by Serena Williams. This helped her break into the Top 200 for the first time.
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The end of 2016 is when Bellis really took off, with a third-round run at the US Open as a qualifier followed up by a quarterfinal in Quebec. The then-17-year-old finished her year with a 15-match win streak on the ITF tour, winning two $50k tournaments and a $125k in Honolulu, breaking the top 100 and finishing the year at No. 75.
2017 was the year when Bellis first played a full season on the main tour and earned herself the title of Newcomer of the Year. The American’s season highlights included semifinals in Stanford and Mallorca and quarterfinals in Dubai and Rabat. She reached her career highest ranking at No. 35 in August.
The injury troubles began for Bellis before her 19th birthday in 2018 as a promising season start with a quarterfinal in Doha was thwarted and her year ended in March. Bellis would be out for 20 months and come back in November 2019 in Houston.
Bellis had a relatively successful 2020, equalling her best slam result with a third-round run at the Australian Open. The young American continued to have solid results and won an $80k in Macon. Unfortunately, Bellis would go on to play only two more tournaments in her career, with her final match being a second-round loss to Katarzyna Kawa in Charleston.
Main Photo from Getty.
