September 07, 2009

Unheralded American Reaches U.S. Open Quarterfinals: Melanie Oudin, a 17-year-old from Georgia, continued her run of upsets at the U.S. Open, defeating 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. She's already defeated No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva and No. 29 Maria Sharapova, becoming the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals since Serena Williams 10 years ago.

posted by rcade to tennis at 06:31 PM - 9 comments

Here are the shoes.

posted by BoKnows at 06:40 PM on September 07, 2009

That was such a great match. I am so proud of her!!!!

posted by phaedon at 10:22 PM on September 07, 2009

She plays with courage, poise, and joy - three qualities that are lacking in a lot of the women at Flushing Meadows.

posted by sbacharach at 10:34 PM on September 07, 2009

Should be a fun match to watch against Wozniacki.

posted by cl at 10:37 PM on September 07, 2009

I'll cheerfully root for any American woman that isn't one of the Williams sisters. Go Melanie!

posted by TheQatarian at 12:03 AM on September 08, 2009

God bless her, but I think Oudin's run says more about the state of women's tennis than it does about her ability (for now).

posted by Mookieproof at 01:05 AM on September 08, 2009

The Shararapova match was lost rather than won. 21 double faults? I think Oudin's playing well - but more importantly, is playing lucky.

posted by bobfoot at 01:14 AM on September 08, 2009

God bless her, but I think Oudin's run says more about the state of women's tennis than it does about her ability (for now).

As much as I enjoyed watching as an Atlanta native, I have to agree. Her game is...meh. IIRC, she didn't even have an ace last game. Her serve is a liability, and her groundstokes though accurate aren't exactly overpowering. If she goes up against a Williams sister on her game, Oudin doesn't stand a chance.

posted by jmd82 at 08:57 AM on September 08, 2009

It was a fun comeback to watch, but really, yeah, the serving ability and basic consistency of the Russian Clone Army leaves something to be desired. Clijsters-Serena, on the other hand, may be a tasty one to watch.

posted by etagloh at 01:03 AM on September 09, 2009

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