Melanie Oudin: A Pocket of Tennis Tenacity

She stormed into this year's US Open with an angelic smile and the heart of a lion.  She defeated four Russian tennis powerhouses in succession, three of whom are seeded players:  Elena Dementieva, the current Olympic Champion and seeded 4th, Maria Sharapova, a three-time grandslam winner, and veteran Nadia Petrova.  Melanie Oudin, the feisty 17-year old from Marietta, Georgia, USA, wowed tennis fans the world over with her mental toughness, good coverage of the court, and killer forehand.  She proved again that height is not a hindrance to best the game, just like what Justine Henin (always my idol) has proven by staying on the number one position for a long time until her premature retirement from professional tennis.  Oudin's fairy tale may have been ended by another graceful Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, but I know that this is just the beginning of her long and successful tennis career.  Watching her play the first time against Dementieva, I cannot help but notice some similarities in her game with that of Justine Henin, more so her feistiness.  And indeed, during the press conference after that match, I learned that Justine's her idol while she was growing up.  She also still has the same coach that she has since she's 9 years old, very much like Justine's long-time coach (practically her whole career), Carlos Rodriguez.

Seeing Melanie's run in this year's Open gives me a good feeling that at last, the game is picking up from where Justine left it over a year ago when she announced in May last year that she's hanging her racket for good, at an early age of 26.  Also, Caroline Wozniacki's calm and keen tennis mind capable of adaptation even while she knows that the whole crowd was rooting for Melanie (being an American) even more cemented the fact that women's tennis is going to new heights.

I am excited, that's for sure.  You ask why.  Because I know that Melanie Oudin is not a teenage prodigy straight from the production line.  She is mentally tough even at such a young age, she has personality (ah, how I love those self-designed Adidas shoes!), she has a fighting spirit, she has what it takes to go beyond what she accomplished today.  This is only the beginning, only the beginning.

Melanie's adidas self-designed shoes display her motto:  BELIEVE

killer forehand

photos courtesy of www.usopen.org