Former Teenage Prodigy Cici Bellis Opens Up About Ongoing Injury Nightmare

American tennis player Cici Bellis has spoken out about a series of injury setbacks that has sidelined her from the sport for over a year.

The 19-year-old was once tipped as a future star of the women’s game before being forced to take time away from the sport. Peaking at a ranking high of 35th in 2017, she has reached the third round of both the US Open and French Open by the age of 18. Bellis also won her first WTA 125 title at the 2016 Hawali Open.

The problems began over two years ago when she was diagnosed with tendinitis in her arms. A condition where there is pain and inflammation around the joints. However, a more serious issue was diagnosed after she sought specialised medical help from the Mayo Clinic.

“This doctor found three tears in my wrist and that one of the bones in my wrist was too long which caused the tears and impaction.” Bellis wrote in a post for Behind The Racquet.
“The first surgery ended up solely repairing the tears, as he did not see the original impaction anymore.”

Unfortunately for the former world No.35, that was only the start of her problems. Suffering from elbow pain after the procedure, a doctor found that one of her two ‘bone spurs’ was fractured. Solving the mystery behind why she heard a ‘crack’ noise in her elbow during a match in Dubai. As a consequence, Bellis’ was required to undergo another operation to solve the pain.

The run of bad luck continued for the youngster. After surgery number two, the troublesome wrist problems came back to haunt her. Forcing Bellis to go under the knife for a third time within such a short period of time.

“The doctor apologized for not doing the surgery earlier but now it was a must. They basically cut my bone in half, shortened it, and then put a plate in.”

The latest procedure failed to go as smoothly as Bellis’ camp would have liked. The plate inserted had to be removed last Monday as it was aggravating her arm. Leaving Bellis waiting once again to begin her comeback to the tour.

“The hardest things have been hitting and getting close to normality and then just being totally set back. There is no way I can do this anymore, but tennis is everything to me. I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t love this sport.” She stated.

Bellis’ last match on the tour was at the 2018 Miami Open, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka. So far in her career, she has achieved a win-loss record of 117-58 and won more than $1 million in prize money.

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“During a tournament in Mexico two years ago, after playing against this big hitter, both my arms were sore for about four days. I thought it was normal and something I had to deal with. Everyone just diagnosed it as tendonitis. After getting through the clay and grass with pain doctors prescribed anti-inflammatories, which did help. I went off them, just before Asia, when I thought I was on these pills for too long. I took about 2-3 weeks off during preseason and then did some strengthening. I was at my career high ranking and wanted to continue the momentum. I went into 2017 playing Doha and Dubai. During Dubai I literally felt my elbow crack. It was now Indian Wells and the discomfort in my wrist and elbow was at an all time high. I was fed up with unqualified doctors and went to the Mayo Clinic to get the highest quality MRI. This doctor found three tears in my wrist and that one of the bones in my wrist was too long which caused the tears and impaction. The first surgery ended up solely repairing the tears, as he did not see the original impaction anymore. Shortly after healing my elbow started killing. A doctor examined it and found that two bone spurs hit each other every time I straightened my elbow, and the main one was fractured. This was the crack I felt in Dubai. The bone needed to be shaven down. It was a simple surgery and I got back to playing, but it wasn’t over. Pain returned in my wrist from ‘one of the worst impactions ever’. The doctor apologized for not doing the surgery earlier but now it was a must. They basically cut my bone in half, shortened it, and then put a plate in. This took some real time before I started hitting, but once I got to the baseline something was wrong. I received this swelling on my arm every time I played. We figured out the plate in my arm was too big, causing inflammation and aggravation. I got the plate out last Monday and that’s where I am now. The hardest things have been hitting and getting close to normality and then just being totally set back. There is no way I can do this anymore, but tennis is everything to me. I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t love this sport.”

A post shared by Behind The Racquet (@behindtheracquet) on Apr 6, 2019 at 4:25pm PDT

What is behind The Racket?

Behind The Racket is a Instagram project set up and run by American player Noah Rubin. His aim to to show fans the human side to the sport. In each picture is a person holding a tennis racket in front of their face. Attached to the photo is a paragraph detailing their thoughts and experiences. Topics include financial struggles, mental health, living up to family expectations and bereavement. All of the posts can be viewed at – https://www.instagram.com/behindtheracquet.