Atherton’s CiCi Bellis, anxious to be playing her first WTA tour match in Northern California, took a 6-3, 7-6 (3) loss to Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi in the Bank of the West Classic’s first match Monday.
Down 5-3 in the second set, Bellis broke serve for 5-4 and fought her way into the tiebreaker, but it ended when Doi — ranked 104th in the world to Bellis’ 152 — ripped a clean ace down the middle.
“She’s obviously a really good player and I thought I gave her a good fight in the second,” said Bellis, 16, who got national attention by defeating 13th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova at last year’s U.S. Open. “I just look at this as another great experience, to play higher-ranked players and realize how tough it is.”
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Bellis grew up watching the Stanford tournament with her friends each year, “and it was so great to actually play in it. This is going to be my favorite tournament every year.”
Her father, Gordon, was there for the match, but as usual, her mother, Lori, didn’t make it. Despite the close proximity to their home, “She was just too nervous to come out,” Bellis said with a laugh.
She’s hoping to return to the U.S. Open as a wild card, likely considering her runaway popularity last year. “That was probably the best experience of my life,” she said. “I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully playing my best.”
Bellis isn’t finished in this year’s event, however. She plays doubles with partner Jacqueline Cako on Tuesday against the second-seeded team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja.
Monday’s other matches included a 6-3, 6-0 win by seventh-seeded Madison Keys over Aleksandra Krunik.
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“I think I played really well,” Keys said of her 52-minute match. “Once I got the lead, I tried to keep the pressure on her. My first serve was definitely working for me.”
Sixth-seed Andrea Petkovic topped fellow German Carina Witthoeft 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, and qualifier Nicole Gibbs, who won two NCAA singles titles while at Stanford, beat France’s Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-5, for her first WTA main-draw victory since April.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1
At a glance
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Monday’s matches
Alison Riske def. Tatjana Maria 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Misaki Doi def. Cici Bellis 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Nicole Gibbs def. Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-5
Andrea Petkovic def. Carina Witthoeft 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
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Madison Keys def. Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-0
Mona Barthel def. Carol Zhao 6-3, 6-0
Tuesday’s schedule
Day session: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs. Varvara Lepchenko; Saisai Zheng vs. Ana Konjuh; Elina Svitolina vs. Kateryna Bondarenko; Vitalia Diatchenko vs. Ajla Tomlijanovic.
Night session: Angelique Kerber vs. Daria Gavrilova; Kimiko Date-Krumm vs. Sabine Lisicki.
