It's always exciting when some new faces arrive in the spotlight as a direct consequence of their exceptionals tennis skills. The same goes for the new sensation of WTA circuit, namely Catherine Bellis from the United States. The 17-year-old tennis hope made it to the quarterfinals of a Premier 5 event in dubai.
Bellis who is ranked as the world no. 70, has managed to put together some great wins over the past couple of days. Her latest victim was Agnieszka Radwanska, a highly-experienced player ranked as the world no. 6.
Bellis came back from a one-set deficit
The young American player came into this match with high expectations. She won her first 2 matches in Dubai against Yulia Putintseva (27 WTA) and Laura Siegemund (41 WTA), two dangerous opponents who Bellis ousted without dropping a set. Having nothing to lose, the young tennis star put in a fair amount of solid tennis winning the opening set by 6-4. The 2nd set saw Radwanska with a different approach putting extra pressure on top of the inexperienced young player who went on making one error after another. Eventually, the Polish player took the set by 6-2 and the decisive set seemed to be just a formality for the 5th seed in Dubai.
Bellis disagreed and she broke on Radwanska's serve in the opening game of the 3rd set then she backed up a solid start keeping her service game in place.
The stakes being high, the teenager began to choke and her opponent came back in the match and levelled the score at 2-2. Once more, the youth had the last word and the 17-year-old won the next four games as well as the match.Now that she is the quarterfinals, anything is possible.
Bellis made a name for herself at the US Open
At the 2016 US Open, Catherine Bellis reached the 3rd round where she was surpassed by Angelique Kerber, the eventual winner. Until today, that was the highlight of her career as she turned pro after the 2016 Us Open. Starting from today things might change as she recorded a huge win over a top 10 player such as Radwanska.
As a comparison, when Bellis was born in 1999, Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam in singles.
