Bellis extends win streak, reaches Hawaii semis

No. 4 seed CiCi Bellis, shown in July, whipped No. 7 Sara
Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 6-1 on Friday for her 13th
consecutive singles victory. Photo by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, extended her singles winning streak to 13 matches on Friday.

   The fourth-seeded Bellis demolished seventh-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in 64 minutes to reach the semifinals of the $125,000 Hawaii Open in Honolulu.

   Sorribes Tormo, ranked No. 109, committed 13 doubles faults and won only 2 of 17 points (12 percent) of the points on her second serve.

   Bellis, the youngest player in the top 100 at No. 92, will face unseeded American Jacqueline Cako. The 329th-ranked Cako, 25, upset Germany's Sabine Lisicki, the fifth seed and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up, 3-6, 7-5, 2-0, retired (shoulder).   

   Bellis, who's coming off titles in two $50,000 indoor tournaments in Canada, has not lost more than three games in a set in her three matches in Honolulu.

   Cako, a former Arizona State All-American, eliminated second seed and ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs in the first round and outlasted Jamie Loeb of Ossining, N.Y., in the second round. Both Gibbs (2012 and 2013) and Loeb (2015) won NCAA singles titles. 

   Bellis, who turned pro after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier, is 2-0 against Cako.

   In the doubles final, top-seeded Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato of Japan edged third-seeded Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area and Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas 6-7 (3), 6-3 [10-8]. 

   Gibbs also won the 2012 NCAA doubles title with Mallory Burdette.