Teen Sensation Melanie Oudin into the Quarters - No More Russians Left to Play

Melanie Oudin takes out four Russian players, one in each round.

Teen sensation Melanie Oudin has taken the U.S. Open by storm this year with a dazzling combination of fire and ice. Her spirit and intensity blends beautifully with her ability to manage her emotions under pressure.

Oudin seemed overwhelmed by the occasion and the Labor Day crowds as soon as she stepped onto the court this afternoon. Melanie had shown maturity far beyond her 17 years during the past week and it all seemed to be catching up to her.

13th seeded Nadia Petrova came out firing, breaking the teen at will and running away with the first set by a score of 6-1. Oudin was on the ropes, down a set and oh-so-close to falling behind 5-3 in the second.

But after stunning wins over Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova, people are learning that you can’t count the teen from Georgia out. She’s displaying the fierceness of a Rafael Nadal with the compact stature of a Justine Henin.

Petrova and Oudin traded punches until they found themselves in a second set tiebreaker. Petrova had a look of disbelief that the match had come this far. That shred of uncertainty coupled with Oudin’s killer instinct resulted in a convincing 7-2 win for the American in the breaker.

With the match tied at a set-a-piece, Oudin began to assert herself over the stunned Russian. She finished off Petrova, tossed her racquet into the air and raised her hands in triumph. There were no tears this time from Oudin – she was already thinking about the next round.

She advances to the quarterfinals where she will face another Russian-beating teenager, 19-year-old Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark. The 9th seeded Wozniacki gutted out a tough 4th round match under the lights upsetting the 6th seed and final Russian in the tournament, Svetlana Kuznetsova: 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).

The two teens are both first time grand slam quarterfinalists and will have a day to rest before they mix it up for a spot in the semis.

Melanie Oudin Slays Another Tennis Giant

Melanie Oudin continues her assault on the tennis world.

Add Maria Sharapova to the list of top women knocked out of the grand slam tournaments by giant-killer, Melanie Oudin. The 17-year-old Georgian continues to serve notice at the U.S. Open Championships that she is for real after her 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 3rd round win.

Moments after knocking out Sharapova, Oudin told the packed house of well-wishers, “I don’t even know what to say right now, thank you so much for cheering for me.”

That kind of humility and innocence is winning her fans worldwide.

With her left thigh tightly wrapped, and her underdog status firmly in place, Oudin strode into Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium and picked up right where she left off when she beat Elena Dementieva in the second round.

At first, the blistering pace from Sharapova seemed to be too much. Oudin fell in the first set by a score of 6-3. But If Sharapova sensed that victory was near, Oudin had other ideas. Sharapova was being pressured in every service game – and finally, the wheels started to come off.

The double faults began piling up and before the crowd knew what hit them, Oudin claimed the second set.

With the match even, Oudin quickly went up another break in the 3rd set when Sharapova made a strategic call to the trainer. Surely that would cool off this little upstart. And for one game, this possible display of games-womenship paid dividends. Sharapova broke back leveling the match at 3 games a piece in the third.

But the fiery Melanie Oudin is quickly establishing a record of mental toughness. She’s more than scrappy, she’s a true pitbull. She dug deep and broke Maria right back, punctuating the win with a fist pump and a “C’MON!!”

Each woman continued to trade breaks until Melanie the Lionhearted slammed the door on Sharapova in the third and took her rightful place in 4th round.

Look out world, this kid is here to stay.

Seeds Fall, Safina Double Faults Her Way to Victory

             15 double faults equals almost 4 games

Somehow, the top-seeded Dinara Safina is still here with us here at the U.S. Open. She is turning the double fault into an art form. Safina survived a rash of unforced errors and 15 DOUBLE FAULTS to sneak into the 3rd round with a dismal 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over the 67th ranked Kristina Barrois. The sad truth is that Safina actually played better today than she did in the first round.

The 4th seed Elena Dementieva and the 5th seed Jelena Jankovic were not so lucky. Both players will have plenty of time to explore the Big Apple during the upcoming Labor Day Weekend after being whisked away by a pair of unseeded opponents.

Dementieva ran into an unexpected challenge from a scrappy powerhouse named Melanie Oudin and Jankovic says she was emotionally drained by the death of grandmother the night before the match.

Jankovic looked confused for most of the day as she dropped a 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 decision to Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan. (cue the theme from Borat)

Two of the top nine seeds on the women’s side held true to their rankings today. #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova and #9 Caroline Wozniacki both cruised into the 3rd round with a pair of straight set victories.

Maria Sharapova also continued her dominating comeback with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 thumping of Christina McHale from Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Day 4 was a good day for American tennis on the men’s side. Andy Roddick was the last of the red, white and blue victors winning a convincing match over the Frenchman, Marc Gicquel 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Other Americans moving into the 3rd round on Day 4 included James Blake, Sam Querrey, John Isner and even the 276th ranked player in the world, Jesse Witten.

4th seeded Novak Djokovic had no problem toppling his 6-foot, 6-inch opponent, Carsten Ball in straight sets. Joko still remains on a collision course with Andy Roddick in a potential quarterfinal clash next week.

Lion-Hearted Melanie Oudin Stuns Tennis World

Melanie Oudin displays true grit overwhelming Elena Dementieva

Fans who came out Arthur Ashe Stadium this afternoon were treated to a rare display of tenacity, grit, determination and fearlessness in the form of 17-year-old Melanie Oudin this afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The teen was unseeded, fighting through a left thigh injury and facing the number 4-ranked player in the world, Elena Dementieva.

Oudin played a tough enough first set, but ultimately lost it 7-5. Most teenagers on such a grand stage would have been content with their effort, but not Melanie. She buckled down and put the pressure on Dementieva. Her court coverage was spectacular and the tiny teen from Georgia was fearless – going for shot after shot.

The crowd was buzzing when Oudin stole the second set 6-4 and the third began with such promise. But then trouble struck. Melanie tweaked her left thigh, which was already taped up and had to take a lengthy injury timeout. She retook the court with a heavily rewrapped thigh and the sinking hopes of the crowd.

The match continued with the drama and pressure building – when Oudin yelped after hitting a serve. The color drained from her face and the tears started rolling down her cheeks. Oudin took a few tentative steps and looked ready to call it quits. She thought it over, kept testing her thigh and decided she had come too far.

Her service speed decreased greatly along with her mobility and the Georgia teen seemed destined to lose. But then a funny thing happened. Dementieva drew Oudin into the net and tried to lob over her 5’6 frame. No dice! The 70th ranked player in the world leapt into the air and put away the overhead.

Suddenly she was recharged, pushing the pain aside and going for broke on shot after shot. The number 4 player in the world wilted under the barrage of shot-making and eventually succumbed to Oudin by a final score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

If Melanie Oudin is what the future holds for women’s tennis in the United States, we are truly in good hands.

Day 4 Preview: Venus, Why on Earth are you Playing Doubles?

Tell me a secret, "Why aren't you resting?"

Professional doubles players, please forgive me, but you must agree -- that winning a grand slam singles title would be preferable to winning the doubles title. I’m not being rude, just throwing it out there.

Venus Williams is hobbled right now. She’s hurting and for the second fastest woman in the game, (Serena is Faster) Venus needs to be taking it easy between singles matches, not hopping around on the doubles court. That being said, you can catch Venus and her kid sis Serena mixing it up on the Grand Stand Court this afternoon against Julia Goerges and Arantxa Parra Santonja. The best thing that could befall Venus in this situation is a painless and calculated default.

Moving on to the women’s singles draw, top-seeded Dinara Safina has a chance to get her act together and forget about her first round performance. Getting some second serves in would be a terrific start.

Maria Sharapova is in good shape today squaring off against a 17-year-old named Christina McHale from Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

4th seeded Elena Dementieva is taking on another American teenager named Melanie Oudin. Melanie, from Marietta, Georgia created quite a stir this summer by reaching the 4th round of Wimbledon.

Turning to the men’s side, Novak Djokovic is the highest seed in action today and should have little trouble with the six-foot-six-inch giant from Down Under, Carsten Ball. 5th seeded Andy Roddick plays the last match of the evening on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Marc Gicquel from France.

Day 2 Drama - Safina Looks Lost, Ivanovic Out

         Safina barely avoids a top-seeded collapse

The first round is supposed be a relatively easy affair for the top seeds in a Grand Slam event. This U.S. Open has held true to that form with one glaring exception. We’re not talking about Venus – yes, she struggled, but she was dealing with knee issues. No, we’re talking about the top seed, Dinara Safina.

Her performance was dismal. I’m still in shock that you can play such sloppy tennis and win at the professional level. The UNFORCED ERRORS, double faults and all around bad play made this one tough to stomach. She needs to the right the ship or that top ranking will become a thing of the past.

On the topic of Safina being number one – there are many people who believe that she does not deserve the number one ranking. I disagree. There may be better players out there (like the Williams sisters) but Safina’s ranking is based on her performance this year. Although she has yet to win a major, she’s won 3 tournaments this year and done no worse than reaching the finals of two slams and the semis at Wimbledon. She’s won a tour best 52 matches this year, so the numbers speak for themselves. The other tournaments count too – otherwise, why play them?

11th seeded Ana Ivanovic got her first round walking papers on Day 2 from Kateryna Bondarenko – Ana faltered in a 3rd set tiebreaker and is playing with very little confidence right now.

On the good news front – Maria Sharapova looked dominating in her first round match and could become the story of the tournament. Look for her to be around next week.

Other seeds ran into little resistance booking their 2nd round invitations including the 4th seed, Elena Dementieva and the 6th seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The top seeds on the men's side avoided any significant drama on Day 2 with Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray all advancing in straight sets.

Murray faced a rather stiff challenge against the Latvian giant, Ernests Gulbis, but came through with top marks, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5.