Bellis Rolls to Advance in U.S. Open Qualifiers

American CiCi Bellis cruised into the second round of U.S. Open Qualifiers on Wednesday, blowing past Macedonia’s Lina Gjorcheska 6-0, 6-2 to advance.

Bellis, who burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old with her upset win over Dominika Cibulkova at the 2014 U.S. Open, wasted no time in the opening set. She started things off with a break in the opening game, and went on to win all six games to take the first set 6-0.

Bellis would then break early again in the second set on her way to opening up a 4-1 advantage and never looked back, wrapping up the straight set victory in just 48 minutes.

Up next for Bellis is fellow American Grace Min, who defeated another American, 21st-seeded Julia Boserup, 6-4, 6-2.

The top seeds in both the men’s and women’s qualifying tournaments both advanced on Wednesday as well.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Kristina Kucova of Slovakia outlasted American Sachia Vickery, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to move on, while Japan’s Yuichi Sugita, the top seed in the men’s draw, rolled over France’s Alexandre Sidorenko 6-2, 6-3.

The 23rd-seeded American Austin Krajicek was upset by Blaz Kavcic, as the Slovakian edged out a 7-5, 7-6(2) victory, setting up a matchup with Canada’s Steve Diez who rolled 6-1, 6-0 over Netherlands’ Antal Van Der Duim.

Credit all photos to Brian Coleman