SERENA WILLIAMS PLAYS YOUNG AMERICAN GIRL (CATHERINE BELLIS ) IN MIAMI TENNIS BY SOUTHERN BELLE

Written by: Staff on 29th March 2015

SERENA WILLIAMS PLAYS YOUNG AMERICAN GIRL (CATHERINE BELLIS ) IN MIAMI TENNIS BY SOUTHERN BELLE

epa04686032 Serena Williams of the USA in action against Catherine Bellis of the USA during their third round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2015. EPA/RHONA WISE |

Serena got off to a very fast 3-0 lead in her 3rd round match vs. 15 year old Catherine “CiCi” Bellis in Miami yesterday. But in her 2nd serve game, CiCi seemed to settle her nerves and play the style of tennis that has gotten her to this place – aggressive, steady, and unfazed by the literal and figurative stature of the woman standing across the net.

During the warmup, The Tennis Channel showed a comparison between the two opponents, and it looked pretty lopsided. Serena: age 33, CiCi: age 15. Serena 5’9”, CiCi: 5’6”. Serena: 696 tour wins, Cici: 3 tour wins.

Southern Belle has seen both of these women play on multiple occasions but never against each other. This was a first for young CiCi, taking on the #1 player in the world. Conditions weren’t ideal, but it was windy for both women, causing several funky bounces and mishits. And 21 minutes were all that Ms. Williams needed to take the first set 6-1.

Catherine Bellis of the US hits a return to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan during play on the fourth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

CiCi served to open the 2nd set. Although she stayed very composed, she quickly went down 0-30, but Serena made several unforced errors and CiCi was able to hold and take the lead 1-0. As of the end of the 2nd game of the set, though, Serena had still only lost 1 point on her own serve. CiCi’s normally patient style – waiting for the right ball to finish the point – seemed to be missing against Serena. Maybe it was the pressure of playing the world’s top female. Maybe it was the tremendous respect she has for Serena. Or maybe it was simply that she was a 15 year old teenager playing her idol. A Bellis ace at 1-3, 0-15 got the crowd cheering loudly. They wanted to see more from this young player. Serena had other plans. CiCi did finally win her 2nd point on Serena’s serve at 1-4, 15-all. CiCi worked the point like we’re used to seeing her do, moving Serena around the court and drawing her into the net, finishing with a great cross-court pass that Serena volleyed into the bottom of the net. Sadly, that was pretty much the only time we saw CiCi make Serena uncomfortable out there. Serena quickly finished off the match 6-1, 6-1.

CiCi will take away some great lessons from this contest, and we suspect that this young lady will be making plenty of noise on the WTA Tour in the coming months. Keep an eye out for her. We sure will .

Topics: CiCi Bellis, Miami Open tennis, Serena Williams, Southern Belle, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

March 29, 2015 at 3:58 pm

-@serenawilliams PLAYS YOUNG AMERICAN GIRL CATHERINE BELLIS IN #MIAMI TENNIS BY SOUTHERN BELLE http://t.co/te4kgdL5ui #MiamiOpen #CiCiBellis