Saturday, January 23, 2010

ennis: U.S. Teen’s underdog story ends in fourth round of Wimbledon

Melanie Oudin was downed in straight sets in Monday’s fourth round to 11^th ranked Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 5-7. Despite the loss, the 17-year-old still found plenty of success.

Melanie Oudin, courtesy of: flickr.com

Oudin (pronounced OO-dan) drew a lot of attention when she upset sixth ranked and former number one Jelena Jankovic 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday in round three. Coming into this tournament, she lost her only two grand slam matches. Those first round exits came in the 2008 U.S. Open and 2009 Australian Open.

The native from Marietta, Georgia made a strong Wimbledon debut, posting a 3-1 record. She was the youngest American to advance to the women’s fourth round at Wimbledon since 1993 when Jennifer Capriati made the quarterfinals.

Oudin has won two ITF Women’s Circuit singles titles this year, tallying three for her two-year career. Her career record in singles is 69-36.

Radwanska will play Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.