15-year-old American CiCi Bellis successfully won the U.S. Open match and became the youngest player to win the title since 1996. Bellis is just 15 years old when she won against the Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. The last player to win at fifteen was Anna Kournikova.
According to CiCi's dad, Gordon "'I'm told I cannot sigh and I cannot move or say anything (because) that distracts her, so I just have to sit there like a Sphinx and just smile and pray. She hears me when I sigh. So I can't sigh."
Bellis is still consired a kid. She is home-schooled and about to start 10th grade. Her first memory of the U.S. Open is watching on TV while Maria Sharapova played. Bellis pulled out a back-and-forth 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory in Flushing Meadows.
In an all-American match at night, another teen, Taylor Townsend, lost quickly to two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-1. To that, Serena said "We have such an amazing future. We have so much to look forward to."
The William Sisters and Bellis were the few American players that the audience was excited to watch. According to Bellis "Believing was the No. 1 thing that I had to do today."
She added "I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience. but I never thought I would come out on top winning."
Both Bellis' parents could not believe their little girl won the Opens. Her mother Lorie did not watch the games live as she gets nervous.
Gordon said "'She asked how bad it was going in the first set. And so I told her (CiCi) actually won the first set. She couldn't believe that. We were just thankful that she didn't get double-bageled."
On the other hand, Cibulkova was also stunned for Bellis aggressiveness saying "'I didn't expect her to play so aggressive today. I thought she's kind of a player who's just putting the ball back and running around. That didn't happen today. She was really aggressive on the court and that maybe surprised me in the first set."