2 years, 4 operations later, CiCi Bellis back on Slam stage

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — As one final backhand off her seeded Australian Open opponent’s racket sailed long, CiCi Bellis looked like someone who couldn’t contain her excitement, jumping and yelling.

When she headed to the locker room moments later, the 20-year-old American shook her left fist, then put her hand to her ear to ask for louder cheering.

And rightly so. This was a big deal for Bellis: Two full years and four right arm operations have come and gone since she was last healthy enough to participate in a Grand Slam tournament. And now she is into the third round at Melbourne Park after beating No. 20 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.

Bellis was something of a teen prodigy. In her very first tour-level match, at age 15 at the 2014 U.S. Open, she stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, an Australian Open runner-up, to become the youngest American to win a match at Flushing Meadows in 28 years.

She reached No. 35 in the rankings at 17, when she won WTA Newcomer of the Year honors. Then came the series of health problems, including for torn tendons in her wrist, to shorten a bone in her arm and for bone spurs in her elbow. All the time away from the tour has her at No. 600 in the rankings currently, but she was able to get into the draw in Australia via the protected ranking rule.