1 of 3 | Catherine Bellis of the United States. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
License Photo
American teenager Catherine "CiCi" Bellis beat 17th-seeded Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5 to move into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
The 17-year-old Bellis was competing in her first official main-draw match of the season. She was sidelined with injuries before attempting to qualify for the tournament in Qatar last week.
Bellis, ranked No. 70 in the WTA rankings, trailed 5-0 in the second set against her Russian opponent before winning the final seven games.
"I got myself in a bit of trouble in the second set, but I'm glad I got out of it," Bellis said after the match. "I just thought to myself, stick to my game plan, just keep steady, I can come back."
In an all-American matchup, Alison Riske upset 11th-seeded Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
Riske and Vandeweghe, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, were winning teammates on the U.S. Fed Cup team that defeated Germany 4-0 in the first round two weekends ago.
Olympic champion Monica Puig of Puerto Rico won her first-round match, beating Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 10 seed and 2011 Dubai winner Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark continued her strong play, beating Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 7-5.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match," Wozniacki said during her on-court interview. "She mixes up the pace a lot and she has great hands and serves well. For me, it was important to play my own game and speed things up. I was pleased with my win."
Wozniacki, a former world No. 1, reached the Qatar Open final on Saturday before losing to Karolina Pliskova.