NEW YORK | Maybe it all was a little too much, a little too soon for Melanie Oudin.
The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., kept erasing big deficits and upsetting older, taller, higher-ranked players at the U.S. Open, generating more and more interest in her magical ride.
Her gutsy play, aw-shucks approach and those pink-and-yellow sneakers with “BELIEVE” on the heels carried Oudin all the way to the quarterfinals at the American Grand Slam tournament. That’s where her surprising story ended Wednesday night with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
“It was a lot,” Oudin conceded. “These past two weeks have been really different for me. I’ve gone from being just a normal, like, tennis player to almost everyone in the United States knowing who I am now.”
Then, keeping a brave face, Oudin added: “I don’t think that affected my tennis game tonight at all.”
Still, facing Wozniacki in the sport’s largest arena, playing under the bright lights in the big city, Oudin showed signs of shakiness at the start, dropping 14 of the first 18 points. Even she couldn’t recover from that.
“This has been a great experience for me. I had a great run here,” the 70th-ranked Oudin told the crowd during an on-court interview right after the match, an honor usually reserved for the winner. “I hope to come back next year and do even better.”
It’ll be hard to top her 2009 U.S. Open.
With impressive court coverage and solid groundstrokes, the 5-foot-6 Oudin knocked off four more established players - including three-time major champion Maria Sharapova and Beijing Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva - to become the youngest quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Making the tale even better: Oudin’s last three victories all came after she dropped the first set. Plus, there was her wide-eyed attitude: Everything was “cool” and “awesome,” including meeting Roger Federer for the first time and finally getting to shake hands with Sharapova - only after beating her, of course.
Wozniacki leads the women’s tour in match victories this season and, while all of 19, is a relative veteran next to Oudin.
“I’m sorry that I won against Melanie today,” Wozniacki told the partisan fans, some of whom cheered when she double-faulted. “I know that many of you wanted Melanie to win.”
Now the Dane will play her first Grand Slam semifinal against another 19-year-old, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. The 50th-ranked Wickmayer - never before past the second round at a major tournament - beat Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4.
On the men’s side, top-seeded Roger Federer held off a challenge from No. 12 seed Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6). Earlier Wednesday, fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic reached the U.S. Open semifinals for the third consecutive year, beating No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
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