Fairy Tale Ends for Melanie Oudin – No Surprises for the Men’s Side

Clock Strikes Midnight for Cinderella - Out in Straight Sets

It was a magical week for Melanie Oudin, she made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open and beat some of the best players in the game on the way. But Oudin ran into mirror image of herself on Day 10, the 9th ranked player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki.

Oudin was able to fight back from a set down in each of her previous matches, but it was not to happen in the quarterfinals of the 2009 U.S. Open. Wozniacki was content to keep the ball in play and use a series of angles to beat Oudin in two easy sets, 6-2, 6-2.

On the men’s side, Fernando Verdasco had high hopes in his quarterfinal match against the fourth seed, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic appeared to be on his heels throughout the first set, but somehow managed to steal the first set tiebreaker by a score of 7-2.

Instead of going away, the loss in the tiebreaker seemed to pump Verdasco up. He tore into Djokovic, who seemed to wilt under the pressure losing the second set 6-1. After a rash of unforced errors and poor service games, the Serb did his best to hang in there and survive the 3rd set.

At 5-5 in third, Djokovic played his best game of the match and ended up running away with the whole thing by a final score of 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. His reward for the big win is a semifinal clash with the man who’s won 39 straight matches and five straight titles here at the U.S. Open, none other than Roger Federer.

It took four sets for the top seed to put away Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6. Federer advances to his 22nd straight Grand Slam semifinal. 22 straight semifinals?? That’s two short of six straight years - where his worst performance at a major was a semifinal appearance. I could write the same thing about six more times and it still wouldn't make sense.

U.S. Open Day 10 Preview: Melanie Oudin Making Life Miserable for Top Seeds

Melanie Oudin has her opponents literally talking to themselves on the court. What happened to them? They were up a set, seemingly in control and suddenly they were being escorted off the grounds. It’s as if they were having a bad daydream, "What, didn't I win?"

If I were coaching her 19-year-old opponent, 9th seeded Caroline Wozniacki, I would tell her to play the entire quarterfinal match as if she were down a set and a break. 

She'll have to if she wants to advance to her first grand slam semifinal, because the 17-year-old Oudin has "Braveheart Syndrome." She’d launch herself over a game of checkers to beat you. Oudin says of her opponents ‘they know that I’m not going away, they’ll have to beat me.’ She means it, too.

The edge goes to Oudin here. Throw out the rankings and look at the way the young American has won her matches. She’s willing to grind or go for broke, whatever it takes to win. Her confidence is sky-high and she will have the raucous support of an entire nation behind her.

The other quarterfinal match pits the 50th ranked Yanina Wickmayer against the 52nd ranked Kateryna Bondarenko. This is what happens when 8 of the top 10 seeds get knocked out on the women’s side too early.

On the men’s side, the Andys are long gone, but there is still a field full of challengers left for the world’s number one, Roger Federer. Fed takes on Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals, the Giant Swede he conquered at this year’s French Open to claim his career Grand Slam.

Soderling has been playing big tennis all week long, but this is Federer. He hasn’t lost a match in New York since the Dutch settled the colony back in 1609. I doubt Soderling will be able to take a set unless Roger gets very bored.

However, there is one guy on the top half of the draw who’s actually managed to beat Federer a few times. Novak Djokovic from Serbia boasts four wins in 12 meetings against Federer. Djokovic meets Fernando Verdasco in his quarterfinal match. 

Verdasco is a tough and capable opponent, but I don’t believe he has what it takes to win three sets off of Djokovic. The Serb should push through in three to four sets.

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.

Labor Day Preview: Teen Sensation Melanie Oudin Puts “Red Scare” into Petrova

Melanie Oudin’s coming out party has been nothing short of spectacular at the 2009 U.S. Open Championships and this Labor Day should be no different. Today Oudin continues her Russian assault taking on the 13th ranked player in the world, Nadia Petrova.

If you’ve been following the tournament, you know Oudin has already escorted two Russian powerhouses out the door including Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva. Expect the “red scare” to continue against Petrova at Arthur Ashe this afternoon.

The Williams sisters are off today, but there is a former U.S. Open Champion and two-time grand slam winner lurking in the women’s draw. That woman is 6th seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova who plays the 9th seed, from Denmark, Caroline Wozniacki. You have to give the nod to Kuznetsova who's been flying under the radar since the tournament began.

Turning to the men’s side, Roger Federer should have a trouble-free afternoon when he takes on Tommy Robredo. However, the next round could provide more of a challenge for Fed if has to play Robin Soderling, the man who conquered Nadal at the French. At 6'4, the 12th seeded Soderling is an imposing figure with a big serve. He got a huge boost in confidence after advancing to the finals of this year's French Open where he lost to none other than Roger Federer.

Soderling, however, has to get to the next round first. He will have his hands full this afternoon against a rejuvenated Nikolay Davydenko.

The fourth seed, Novak Djokovic should also have a relatively stress-free 4th round encounter against Radek Stepankek.

The best matchup on the men’s side this afternoon may come from the man who blew Andy Roddick out of this year’s draw. Six-foot-nine-inch John Isner is back today and playing the 10th seeded Fernando Verdasco. This match should produce some sparkling tennis and a possible upset.

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.