Teenage upstarts CiCi Bellis, ranked at 1,208, and Borna Coric, the men’s No 204, made stunning Grand Slam debuts on Tuesday, rocking the sleepy US Open out of its early slumbers.
Bellis, just 15, caused the biggest upset when she knocked out Australian Open runner-up, Dominika Cibulkova, the 12th seed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to become the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
Playing just her 13th pro-level match, the American teenager won a wildcard into the US Open by winning the US under-18 championships.
The home-schooled teenager from the wine-growing Napa Valley in northern California was making her WTA Tour debut and before Tuesday had never met a player ranked inside the top 100.
Coric, 17, who was the junior champion in 2013 and came through qualifying this year, celebrated his first grand slam match with a convincing 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over 29th-seeded Czech Lukas Rosol, the man who dumped Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon two years ago.
The upset put Coric into a second-round clash with history-making Victor Estrella Burgos, the Dominican Republic’s first grand slam participant who is making his US Open debut at 34.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Coric, who arrived in New York with the goal of making it into the main draw. “I said to myself, ‘If I achieve that, that’s going to be perfect’.”
“I said to myself, ‘If I achieve that, that’s going to be perfect.’
“Now actually winning a guy who is top 30, it’s just unbelievable.”
While Coric is still ranked only 204th in the world, he’s tipped as a potential star.
He won his first ATP Tour level matches in Umag this year, and is expected to continue his climb up the rankings and join such teen sensations as Nick Kyrgios in challenging the game’s established champions.
He has also been able to call on the support of successful compatriots on the tour as he negotiates the move from the junior ranks to the elite pro level.
Former Croatian stars Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic and current ATP player Marin Cilic have all offered help and advice, Coric said.
“I’m so thankful also to them because they helped me a lot. You know, I didn’t know him so much, (but) they help me a lot.”
For Bellis, her age also meant missing out on the US$60,420 (Dh221,940) prize money guaranteed for reaching the second round, as it would have contravened her amateur status.
“I think I’m definitely going to stay an amateur right now to keep my options open for college, in case an injury or something happens. But I’d love to be a pro one day,” said the girl from the wine-growing Napa Valley in northern California.
“I don’t really think about it (the prize money). I mean, I try to just focus on the tennis rather than anything else, especially thinking about something after the match, like what’s on the line for the match, so...”
Playing just her 13th pro-level match, the American teenager was awarded a wildcard into the US Open by winning the US under-18 championships.
Bellis, who learned how to play tennis at her parents’ country club, was making her WTA Tour debut and before Tuesday had never met a player ranked inside the top 100.
But her win, noisily supported by friends on Court 6, some of whom had even posted the hashtag #takedownCibulkova in the run-up to the match, made her an instant celebrity at Flushing Meadows.
Bellis was christened Catherine but is known as CiCi after she contracted her first two names.
“So Catherine, my middle name is Cartan. So I just decided CiCi,” she said helpfully.
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