Bellis, 16, upsets seed in return from injury

CiCi Bellis, playing in the Sacramento Challenger in July, beat No. 6
seed Julia Glushko of Israel 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of the
$125,000 Carlsbad Classic. Photo by Paul Bauman

   It didn't take long for CiCi Bellis to get back in the swing of things.
   Playing her first match in almost three months, the 16-year-old resident of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area upset sixth-seeded Julia Glushko of Israel 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of the $125,000 Carlsbad Classic in the San Diego region.
   Bellis, who had been out with shoulder bursitis, converted seven of 17 break points. Oddly, the 126th-ranked Glushko won a higher percentage of points on her second serve (54) than on her first (42).    
   Bellis, ranked No. 242 after reaching a career-high No. 152 in July, will face 18-year-old Katerina Stewart of Miami on Thanksgiving. Stewart, ranked No. 170, defeated Paula Cristina Goncalves of Brazil 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.
   Bellis, an amateur, is 3-0 against Stewart in pro tournaments and 1-0 against her in the juniors.
   The winner of the Bellis-Stewart match will play either top-seeded Yanina Wickmayer, a 2009 U.S. Open semifinalist from Belgium, or former Stanford All-American Kristie Ahn of the United States. Ahn outlasted Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 today.
   Nicole Gibbs, Ahn's former Stanford teammate, also advanced to the second round. Gibbs, seeded fifth, led Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-3, 3-2 on Monday when Kudryavtseva was defaulted.
   One spectator said Kudryavtseva threw her racket on the court so hard that it bounced up and nearly hit a man in the crowd. Kudryavtseva then stormed off the court, according to the spectator, and later was crying near the parking lot.
   Gibbs and Kudryavtseva helped the Austin Aces reach the World TeamTennis final in July.
   Gibbs will meet Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg, a 6-0, 6-3 winner over Gabriela Ce of Brazil, in the second round.