Melanie Oudin (17 yrs old) wipes out yet another Russki! (US Open)

Reuters ^ | Sept 7, 2009

[Boiling Pots]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American teenager Melanie Oudin's spectacular run at the U.S. Open gathered momentum when she beat Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova 1-6 7-6 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals on Monday.

The 17-year-old has captured the imagination of the public by rolling over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, fourth seed Elena Dementieva and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova.

On day eight of the hardcourt major, Oudin again whipped up the packed Arthur Ashe Stadium into a frenzy when she fought back from a set down to toss Petrova on to the Flushing Meadows scrapheap.

[Dacula]

She’s a Georgia Girl !

[romanesq]

Whoa she made it into the quarters with this big win. Wow.

[libh8er]

I believe Maria Sharapova has still retained her commie citizenship.

[mlizzy]

Melanie Oudin has incredible spunk and is great fun to watch. We viewed this particular match until it was 4-4 in the second set and then went out to play some tennis ourselves. We saw the whole match where she beat Maria Sharapova (the match previous to this one), and even though Maria is not back at full speed since a shoulder surgery, it was still a remarkable defeat for Oudin. She's only a senior in high school. She's got an incredible career in front of her.

[bergmeid]

Tremendous accomplishment so far. You go, girl.

[A_Former_Democrat]

I’m just amazed at how talented someone this age can be

[y6162]

set point!

[doodad]

She is from an area close to my house and there are fanatical tennis players at all levels in Atlanta. The amateur local leagues are amazing.

[InterceptPoint]

Simply a great match. This gal is going to be around awhile.

She doesn't have much in the way of a serve but she keeps the ball in the court, has tremendous court coverage and a great forehand. What surprised me the most about her game was her patience, particularly for a 17 year old. She could see that Petrova was getting tired and making a lot of unforced errors so she just kept the ball in play until she had a chance at a winner or was handed a gift by Petrova. Excellent strategy and it won her the match.

[Boiling Pots]

I think I’m going to call her the Apple Pie girl.

[Vendome]

I would lose by default.

She scares me.

[erman]

what a scrappy young lady.. I like her. She’s modest and truly appears to be shocked at how well she’s doing. What a great story.

[jimfree]

Whoa! Wasn’t expecting that. Three more wins to the title.

[theFIRMbss]

>I believe Maria Sharapova has still retained her commie citizenship

I'd hit it. (Just to, you know, win her over to free market ideals...)

[Joe Boucher]

And when this is over she will go back to High School, God bless her.
Sometimes sports is grand.

[mlizzy]

Here's a YouTube of a little 4-year-old girl in Australia playing tennis. Look at that form!

Link

Wonderful sport ... tennis! I have been married to my private instructor for 25 years now, and I can still hit the ball well, however, my movement could use a little work.:)

[chasio649]

GO Melanie GO....I’ve been watching the Open all weekend....been a great one.

[theFIRMbss]

>I’ve been watching the Open all weekend....been a great one

[jws3sticks]

Melanie Oudin's nickname, per CBS's Mary Carillo, is "Oudini".

You've got to love it.