Melanie Oudin

Melanie Oudin

Melanie Oudin at Arthur Ashe Stadium during the first round of the US Open 2010
Country	United States
Residence	Marietta, Georgia, United States
Born	September 23, 1991 (1991-09-23) Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	130 lb (59 kg)
Turned pro	2008
Plays	Right-handed (Two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$962,428
Singles
Career record	122–97
Career titles	0 WTA, 3 ITF titles
Highest ranking	No. 31 (April 19, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 166 (January 16, 2012)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	1R (2009, 2010, 2011)
French Open	1R (2010, 2011)
Wimbledon	4R (2009)
US Open	QF (2009)
Doubles
Career record	29–43
Highest ranking	No. 130 (September 20, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 132 (August 29, 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2010)
French Open	2R (2010)
Wimbledon	1R (2010)
US Open	2R (2010)
Last updated on: May 16, 2011.

Melanie Oudin (born September 23, 1991 in Marietta, Georgia, United States) is an American tennis player and former World Junior No. 2. Her current career ranking is World No. 166, as of January 16, 2012. She won the mixed doubles title at the US Open in 2011 with fellow American Jack Sock.

Personal life

Oudin is of French descent and has a twin sister, Katherine, and a younger sister, Christina. She was home schooled from seventh grade on so that she could have more time for tennis practice, but admits envying her twin sister's experiences at a regular school. She says her idol is Justine Henin because "she proved you don't have to be tall to win things." Her grandmother inspired her and her sister to play tennis when she gave them racquets and lessons when they were young.

Playing style

Oudin is a defensive counterpuncher. She uses her speed and footwork to get balls back from the other side of the court. Her best shot is her forehand which she can really hit with power. Her slice backhand is basically defensive but accurate. Good dropshot and clean volley are useful assets in her game as well.

Tennis career

2008–2009

Oudin turned professional in February 2008. In April 2008 she received a wildcard at the WTA tournament in Miami where she lost in the first round to Tathiana Garbin in three sets. In August, Oudin received a wild card into her first Grand Slam main draw at the US Open. She was defeated by Australian Jessica Moore 7–6, 7–6. In October that year, Oudin participated in the 2008 Bell Challenge in Quebec City. In the first round, she defeated 3rd seed Sybille Bammer 6–4, 3–6, 7–5. In the second round, she defeated Russian Olga Puchkova 6–1, 7–6. Reaching her first WTA quarterfinals, she was defeated by 6th seed Bethanie Mattek 7–6, 6–1.

Oudin began 2009 by qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open. She was then defeated in the first round by Akgul Amanmuradova 6–1, 6–4.

At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships Oudin entered as a qualifier. Oudin defeated #29 Sybille Bammer in three sets in the first round and Yaroslava Shvedova in three sets in the second.  In the third round, Oudin defeated world #6 Jelena Janković 6–7, 7–5, 6–2.  She lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round 6–4, 7–5.

At the 2009 US Open, Oudin, as a wildcard, dominated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 6–1. In the second round, she stunned fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 5–7, 6–4, 6–3. The 70th-ranked Oudin then advanced to her second straight Grand Slam fourth round, upsetting Maria Sharapova 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. She then went on to beat Nadia Petrova 1–6, 7–6, 6–3 for a place in the quarterfinals, coming back from the first set down for a 3rd straight match. She became the youngest American tennis player to play in the quarterfinals since Serena Williams in 1999. She lost to the ninth seeded 19 year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarterfinals 6–2, 6–2.

2010

At the 2010 Australian Open, Oudin was defeated 6–2, 5–7, 5–7 by Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round.

After rallying from a set and 1–3 down, Oudin defeated Ágnes Szávay to reach her first semifinal of a WTA tour event at the 2010 Open GDF Suez in Paris. She then fell in three sets to World No. 7 Elena Dementieva, in a rematch of the US Open second round. At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Oudin was the 2nd seed. She lost in the quarterfinals to Sofia Arvidsson. At the 2010 French Open, Oudin made an early exit by losing 2–6, 5–7 to Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round. At Wimbledon, Oudin reached the second round before losing to Jarmila Groth. Oudin reached second round at US Open before losing to Alona Bondarenko 2–6, 5–7.

2011

In January, she obtained an invite from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play the Hong Kong Tennis Classic with her compatriots Venus Williams and John McEnroe.  In the first round of the Australian Open, she lost to Czech Klára Zakopalová in three sets.

Oudin got her first win of the year at the 2011 Open GDF Suez where she beat Vera Dushevina 7–5, 5–7, 6–2. In the second round Oudin lost to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6–4, 7–6. Having semi-final points to defend, Oudin's ranking dropped from No. 61 to No. 72. Oudin's next tournament was the Cellular South Cup in Memphis. She won her first round match against Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia 6–4, 6–0. In the second round she faced Russian Evgeniya Rodina, only to lose 6–1, 7–5. Oudin was unable to defend her quarter-final points and therefore saw her ranking fall  from No. 72 to No. 81.

In the US Open paired with Jack Sock, Melanie captured the Mixed Doubles title defeating the 8th seeded Argentinian pairing of Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-8.

Fed Cup

Oudin played singles in the United States' Fed Cup tie against Argentina in February 2009, losing her first match against Gisela Dulko but winning the second match against Betina Jozami in three sets. In November 2009, Oudin lost both of her matches (against Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone) in the championship round of the 2009 Fed Cup.

In the 2010 Fed Cup, Oudin led the USA to a 4–1 victory over France by defeating Pauline Parmentier and Julie Coin. Against Russia, Oudin then defeated Alla Kudryavtseva in her first singles match while losing to Elena Dementieva in her second match. Her team still advanced to the final in San Diego. Contrary to expectations, lower ranked Coco Vandeweghe was chosen over Oudin for the first singles match against Francesca Schiavone. After the US team lost both matches on the first day, Oudin replaced Bethanie Mattek-Sands for the third singles match against Schiavone and won 6–3, 6–1. This kept her team in contention but proved futile since Vandeweghe lost the next match against Flavia Pennetta. In the 2011 Fed Cup World Group tie against Belgium, Oudin lost both her singles matches against Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer. In April, she equally lost her two matches in the 2011 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs where the US dropped out of the World Group for the first time since its formation in 1995.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2011	US Open	Hard	Jack Sock	Gisela Dulko Eduardo Schwank	7–67–4, 4–6, [10–8]

Career titles

Singles (3)

Legend
ITF Tour (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	July 21, 2008	ITF / Lexington, Kentucky	Hard	Carly Gullickson	6–4, 6–2
2.	May 10, 2009	ITF / Indian Harbour Beach, Florida	Clay	Laura Siegemund	7–5, 5–7, 6–2
3.	May 17, 2009	ITF 50k / Raleigh, North Carolina	Clay	Lindsay Lee-Waters	6–1, 2–6, 6–4

Grand Slam women's singles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	W–L
Australian Open	–	1R	1R	1R	0–3
French Open	–	–	1R	1R	0–2
Wimbledon	–	4R	2R	1R	4–3
US Open	1R	QF	2R	1R	5–4

External links

• Official website
• Melanie Oudin at the Women's Tennis Association
• Melanie Oudin at the International Tennis Federation

Awards
Preceded by Caroline Wozniacki	WTA Newcomer of the Year    2009	Succeeded by Petra Kvitová