On the back of her impressive run through qualifying to the 3rd round, CiCi Bellis has announced that she will turn professional. Coinciding with this, Bellis has signed a representation agreement with IMG.
CiCi burst onto the scene as a 15 year old at the US Open, beating 12th ranked Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. Since then, she has player sparingly on the tour, largely in smaller events. Originally committed to Stanford to play collegiate tennis, Bellis changed her mind due to her recent run of results.
Her decision to sign with IMG was put largely down to her friendship with agent Marjin Bal. Having already known him for 4 years, she says that Bal has “basically been my agent without officially signing”. Despite this, she still did take the time to meet with other agencies.
No endorsements have been announced for Cici yet. Under NCAA eligibility rules, CiCi was unable to accept endorsement income from tennis. She wore Nike during the recent US Open, so a deal may be brokered for that to continue.