The comeback kid, Melanie Oudin overpowered the 13th seeded Nadia Petrova at the 2009 U.S. Open. This victory moves the 17-year-old to the quarterfinals to face the No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. This is Oudin’s first time to be in the Grand Slam quarterfinals.
“It’s kind of hard to explain how I’ve done it,” Oudin said. “It’s, like, now I know that I do belong here. This is what I want to do, and I can compete with these girls, no matter who I’m playing. I have a chance against anyone.”
“Unbelievable winner,” Petrova said, “Winning that game kind of gave her a second breath. She realized, ‘OK, I’m back in the game.’ And probably after winning previous matches pretty much in the same way, she thought, ‘You know, I can do it again.”’
And she definitely did. While Oudin was making winning points, Petrova was making one mistake after another.
Melanie and her twin sister Katherine started playing tennis at the age of 9. And by the age of 12, Melanie focused more on tennis, while Katherine went on to explore her other interests.
“It’s not like we were saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to be there one day,”’ Katherine said. “But Melanie’s just always believed in herself. It’s amazing.”
And Melanie said, “This is what I’ve wanted forever.”