+ A
A -
AFP
Melbourne
CiCi Bellis was terrified. Surgeons told her that to save her highly promising tennis career they had to break her arm in half. Then, just three months ago, the 20-year-old American was told her career was over because of a new injury.
But on Thursday the world number 600, once a teenage prodigy, shocked the 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic to reach the Australian Open third round.
Wearing a bandage on her right wrist and with a significant scar running up the lower part of her arm, the San Francisco native was the focus of intense media interest following her surprise victory.
Bellis has been through injury hell with tears in her right wrist and fractures to her elbow. The first low point arrived when she was told of the daunting surgery. She has had four operations in all.
“My mum and I had never heard of anything so barbaric in our entire lives,” Bellis said of the moment surgeons told her what they needed to do to save her career. “He was on the phone telling us that we are going to break your arm in half, shorten it, then put a plate in, then we are going to need to remove the plate.”
Bellis had been rehabilitating for 18 months when in October she was told she would never play again because of a new injury. This time it was a problem with her elbow.
“It was just horrible because we had already been through so much together – my family has been going through all the emotions with me.”
The despair was deep, but thankfully short-lived. She was referred to another doctor in the same building the same day. This one had better news. She had been misdiagnosed and her career was not over.
She faces Belgian 16th seed Elise Mertens in the 3rd round.
“My love for the game is what really drove me through all this time,” said Bellis, hardly able to keep the smile off her face.
“It’s definitely going to take some more tournaments to get into the swing again.
“But each match it’s getting better.”
Melbourne
CiCi Bellis was terrified. Surgeons told her that to save her highly promising tennis career they had to break her arm in half. Then, just three months ago, the 20-year-old American was told her career was over because of a new injury.
But on Thursday the world number 600, once a teenage prodigy, shocked the 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic to reach the Australian Open third round.
Wearing a bandage on her right wrist and with a significant scar running up the lower part of her arm, the San Francisco native was the focus of intense media interest following her surprise victory.
Bellis has been through injury hell with tears in her right wrist and fractures to her elbow. The first low point arrived when she was told of the daunting surgery. She has had four operations in all.
“My mum and I had never heard of anything so barbaric in our entire lives,” Bellis said of the moment surgeons told her what they needed to do to save her career. “He was on the phone telling us that we are going to break your arm in half, shorten it, then put a plate in, then we are going to need to remove the plate.”
Bellis had been rehabilitating for 18 months when in October she was told she would never play again because of a new injury. This time it was a problem with her elbow.
“It was just horrible because we had already been through so much together – my family has been going through all the emotions with me.”
The despair was deep, but thankfully short-lived. She was referred to another doctor in the same building the same day. This one had better news. She had been misdiagnosed and her career was not over.
She faces Belgian 16th seed Elise Mertens in the 3rd round.
“My love for the game is what really drove me through all this time,” said Bellis, hardly able to keep the smile off her face.
“It’s definitely going to take some more tournaments to get into the swing again.
“But each match it’s getting better.”
