The only unfortunate thing about the Cinderella of the U.S. Open, Melanie Oudin, is that her next opponent will not be from Russia. The wide-smiling 17-year old from Georgia (the American state, not the country) has stolen the hearts of U.S. tennis fans more-so than any countrymate since a then-17-year-old Serena Williams won the tournament over Martina Hingis in 1999.
Oudin (pronounced EW-den) has knocked off four Russians en route to her quarter-final appearance against ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Say good-bye to a three-time Grand Slam winner and former No. 1 (No. 29-seed Sharapova), the reining Olympic gold medalist and Rogers Cup champion (No. 4 Elena Dementieva), as well as a former world No. 3 (No. 13-seed Nadia Petrova). Say hello to the most recent teenage sensation.
Interestingly, Oudin has won her last three matches after dropping the first set. Her made-for-Hollywood shoes have the inscription BELIEVE, and that’s exactly what she has made out of the crowds at Flushing Meadows. Through the first eight days at the U.S. Open, Oudin has been a bigger story than even Federer’s quest for a sixth straight win in New York. It’s funny what reaction a young American does for the local press.
Oudin’s notoriety came just a couple of months ago in Jolly ‘Ol England. She reached the fourth-round of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon (as qualifier, defeated No.29 seed Bammer and No.6 seed Jankovic en route). Afterwards, she made her Top 100 debut and entered the final Grand Slam of the year at No. 70. She will soar to Top 45 most likely when the U.S. Open is over. Not bad for a woman who claimed the Quebec City Challenger quarter-final appearance as one of her best accomplishments. The big wins for Oudin at Wimbledon proves that the kid might not be just a flash in the pan.
At the beginning of the 2009 U.S. Open there were 15 Russian women in the main draw. Heading into the Final 8 of the tournament, there are no Russians left – and they have Melanie Oudin to thank for more than a quarter of the fatalities. Whether the American teenager goes down Wednesday or keeps the dream alive, she has been the lead story in the Big Apple.
One Response to “To Russia with love”
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To me Oudin has been THE story of this Open. This has been an amazing ride for her and after seeing her beat Jankovic at Wimbledon I knew this kid had talent. I thought Chris Fowler described it best this afternoon when he described Oudin as a female Lleyton Hewitt. Nothing overpowering though that FH is pretty good but her court coverage/defense and fighting spirit are probably her two biggest weapons. She probably gives Lleyton Hewitt a run for the amount of “come on’s” she says in a match.
What is truly impressive about this young woman is how she seems to thrive under pressure. I believe she is something like 17-4 this year when a match goes to a 3rd set. That tells me two things 1) She is mentally tough to come up with the goods in crunchtime 2) She is very fit to play long matches and come out on the winning end. I noticed too in the Sharapova and Petrova matches both of those players took bathroom breaks after the 2nd set (what a surprise). This is a tactic that is often used in tennis (particularly womens tennis) to disrupt the momentum of their opponents. However this tactic did not work against Oudin. I’ve seen this tactic work a lot against seasoned vets but not against this young upstart from Marietta, GA. THis if fantastic for American tennis and I dont see any reason why Oudin cant win her next two rounds and get to the finals. Her next match against Wozniacki will be an interesting one though as it will be a different sort of matchup than Sharapova or Petrova. Wozniacki is a counterpuncher herself so it will be interesting to see who decides to take control of the rallies and at what times.
- Mike