By Adam Addicott & Giovanni Vianello
Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki has spoken highly about 18-year-old Cici Bellis after prevailing in their third round match 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, at the French Open.
Wozniacki’s clash with the youngster originally began on Friday, but was halted due to darkness with Wozniacki leading 6-2, 2-5. The match resumed with Bellis serving for the second set with the score being 5-2 in her advantage. Bellis went up 30-0 before Wozniacki recovers to 30-30. Afterwards two consecutive points go to the American, with the last one being a forehand error by Wozniacki, forcing the match into a decider.
The third set began with two games in which the player on serve holds with ease; Bellis continues to be the player taking control of the rallies, but some unforced errors don’t let her take full advantage of her aggressive baseline play. In the third game Wozniacki puts herself into trouble by getting broken from an advantage of 30-0, with, amongst other mistakes, a double fault on the score of 30-30. In the following game, though, Bellis shows lack of experience and loses immediately the break of advantage, mostly due to a big amount of unforced errors. The match then sees three consecutive games won by the serving player. With the score being 4-3 for the Danish player, the American feels the pressure and gets broken to love. Wozniacki can serve for the match and eventually wins the third set 6-3, by holding the serve and ending with an ace.
“It was all about just winning today. I didn’t really care if it was pretty or ugly, as long as it was a win, I was happy. To finish off with two aces is very unusual for me, especially on clay.I was happy with that. I really stayed focused. Did what I had to do out there.” Wozniacki said after the match.
The gap in experience between the two players is substantial. This year’s French Open is Wozniacki’s 40th appearance in a grand slam main draw. In contrast, teenager Bellis was only playing in her third (first outside of the US Open). Despite coming through with ease towards the end of the match, the Dane believes Bellis has a bright future ahead.
“I have a lot of respect for her game and the way she’s grindin. I think we are going to see a lot more of her in the future.” She said.
“Obviously you never know what’s going to happen, but at the same time she’s one of those youngsters I see working very hard, and fighting for every point.’
“I like that about her.”
Bellis is currently ranked 48th in the world and the youngest player in the world’s top-50. So far in her career, she had defeated top-10 player Agnieszka Radwanska (Doha 2017) and won the Hawaii Open last November (a WTA $125,000 event).
As the teenage prepares for the upcoming grass swing of the tour, 26-year-old Wozniacki will next play Svetlana Kuznetsova. A win over the Russian will send her into the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time since 2010.
