TORONTO, November 7, 2016

Top seed Catherine “CiCi” Bellis of the United States wrapped up an impressive campaign at the Tevlin Challenger, capturing her second consecutive $50,000 ITF Pro Circuit title on Canadian soil with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Jesika Maleckova of Czech Republic in Sunday’s final at the Aviva Centre in Toronto.

Bellis broke her opponent six times in the hour and thirty-six-minute contest, which saw Maleckova require two medical time outs, and rebounded from a tough second set to cap off the week.

“I felt great today,” Bellis said. “Jesika [Maleckova] is such a great player and I knew it was going to be a tough match because I had seen some of her matches earlier this week and she’s been playing so well. I was ready for a battle, and that’s what it was. I guess I got a little lucky, but I was playing well and came out on top.”

With the win in Toronto, Bellis captures her third title of the season, and second in Canada, having won the $50,000 Saguenay Challenger in October. The 17-year-old will also break into the Top 100 world rankings for the first time in her career, being world No.90 on Monday.

“It means everything to me,” said Bellis on her success in Toronto. “This has been the best year of my life and the best couple tournaments of my life. I’ve never been happier.”

Bellis joins an impressive list of past champions at the Tevlin Challenger including former world No. 5 and Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard (2012), three-time WTA titlist Heather Watson (2010), 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki (2007), former world No. 21 Aleksandra Wozniak (2005), and last year’s winner Tatjana Maria of Germany.