Bellis battles elbow problem; return date uncertain

 

CiCi Bellis was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017 but
missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four operations on
her right arm. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

  CiCi Bellis remains out indefinitely with a right elbow injury, her agent said today.

   "She's trying to do her best to come back," Marijn Bal said, adding that Bellis is hitting balls. "It's a week-by-week situation."

   Bellis, a 22-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, has not played on the WTA or ITF circuit since November. She missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. 

   Bellis, now based at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., reached a career-high No. 35 in the world at age 18 in 2017 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year. She has tumbled to No. 140.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area is scheduled to play 17-year-old wild card Martin Damm, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) left-hander from Bradenton, Fla., for the first time on Tuesday at about 11 a.m. PDT in the first round of the clay-court $52,080 Tallahassee (Fla.) Tennis Challenger. The match will be streamed live.

   Brooksby, who turned pro in December, won his second Challenger singles title of the year on Sunday in a $52,080 hardcourt tournament in Orlando. He also reached the final of last month's $52,080 Cleveland Challenger.

   Damm's Czech father, also named Martin, won the 2006 U.S. Open men's doubles title with Leander Paes of India and peaked at No. 5 in the world in doubles in 2007.

   Brooksby, ranked a career-high No. 194, or Damm, ranked No. 699, will face Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild, seeded first at No. 124. Seyboth Wild, 21, dismissed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-3, 6-1.

   Seyboth Wild won the Santiago title on clay early last year as a 19-year-old wild card ranked No. 182, becoming the first ATP Tour champion born in the 2000s and the youngest Brazilian champion in the Open Era (since 1968). He earned the 2018 U.S. Open boys singles crown, outlasting Italian sensation Lorenzo Musetti.