CiCi Bellis announces retirement from tennis aged 22

CiCi Bellis burst onto the scene as a career-high 35th in the world at only 17 reaching the third round at the French Open and on home soil at the US Open.

But after not being seen on tour since 2020, Bellis announced that she has retired from the sport aged only 22 due to persistent injury problems and has gone into a new line of work entirely.

"I wanted to give a quick update as I haven’t been on the tennis court for a while. Last year, after seeing little to no improvement with my arm, I made the decision to stop playing tennis. I had been in the same cycle of rehab, training and injuries for three plus years and mentally/physically just couldn’t do it anymore," Bellis announced in an Instagram post.

"I absolutely love the sport and have nothing but the best memories from my time playing, but it was definitely time to move on. The good news is that I used my injury time-out wisely. I’m currently completing my business/finance college degree (graduating in 3 months), and an MBA will follow. I’m working full time as an investment analyst for Lead Sports - a VC firm designed to support and grow early-stage sports & health tech startups."

"Needless to say, it’s right up my alley and I literally find myself sprinting to the office each day because of how excited I am," Bellis added. "Thanks to everyone for supporting me throughout my tennis career. You are one of the big reasons I continued to push through the injuries for so long."