Bellis on verge of tying suspended match vs. Wozniacki

CiCi Bellis, playing in the Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last July,
will serve to even her third-round match against 11th-seeded
Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday in the French Open. Photo
by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis was about to serve for the second set against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki today when their French Open match was suspended by rain and darkness.
   The 11th-seeded Wozniacki led 6-2, 2-5 in the third round when play was halted. The match, which was moved from Court Suzanne-Lenglen to Court 2, is scheduled to resume on Court 2 on Saturday after the 2 a.m. (PDT) encounter between Kevin Anderson of South Africa and Kyle Edmund of Great Britain.
   Wozniacki defeated Bellis 6-3, 6-2 on a hardcourt in the Dubai quarterfinals in February in their only previous meeting.
   The 18-year-old Bellis, who grew up in the San Francisco suburb of Atherton, is playing in the women's main draw of the French Open for the first time. She reached the junior doubles final at Roland Garros in 2014 with Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
   Bellis, now ranked No. 48 in women's singles, is the youngest player in the top 50. Wozniacki, 26, is ranked No. 12.
   Wozniacki is trying to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the first time since 2010, when she advanced to the quarterfinals for her best result in nine appearances at Roland Garros entering this year.
   Wozniacki withdrew from last year's French Open with a right ankle injury, the only Grand Slam she has missed since her first one in 2007 at Roland Garros. It snapped a streak of 36 main-draw appearances in majors.
   The winner of the Wozniacki-Bellis match will play eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion who outlasted 32nd-seeded Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5. Kuznetsova is 6-7 against Wozniacki and 0-0 vs. Bellis.