Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn., Mark Wiedmer Column

Chattanooga Times/Free Press

Sep. 8--Melanie Oudin is why we love sports. Or at least why we should. And it has only a little to do with the fact that the 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., has cousins on Signal Mountain.

If you missed her remarkable comeback win over 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday, you lost out on the kind of relentless rally that once made the nearby Atlanta Braves special. Or Michael Jordan. Or her all-time tennis hero, the recently retired Justine Henin.

Until this past weekend, she'd mostly been a cute little story, right down to her electric pink and yellow sneakers, the ones containing the word "Believe" in a window on the heels.

But then Oudin -- pronounced "oo-DAN" -- upset the endorsement queen Maria Sharapova in Saturday's third round after stunning No. 4 Elena Dementieva earlier in the week.

Suddenly everybody wanted a piece of the home-schooled Southern belle, including the paparazzi, who apparently got a little testy with each other when she was spotted in Times Square.

Yet for all the newfound interest in Oudin, almost no one save Melanie and her family could have believed she was going to upset Petrova after the teenager dropped the first set 6-1. Then she was a point from trailing 5-3 in the second set, which meant she was five points from going home.

But Petrova tightened, Oudin smacked a forehand winner down the line to force deuce, eventually won the second set in a tiebreaker (7-2) and won the third set 6-3 to oust her fourth Russian in a row.

"She just keeps doing it to these Russians," Robert Federer, father of men's No. 1 Roger Federer, told the New York Times. "She's really something, isn't she?"

The whole Oudin family is really something. Melanie is sharing a king-sized hotel bed with her mother, Leslie. Having flown to New York for the opening round, father John Oudin -- whose first cousin Anne Willett Curran lives on Signal Mountain -- flew the rest of his family back to the Big Apple after the Sharapova match.

Writing a blog for the New York Times, Melanie's twin Katherine said she and her younger sister Christina were awakened Sunday morning to her dad's announcement, "Girls, we're leaving in 15 minutes."

Yet after Monday's win, Katherine was also quick to tell the press, "We're not going anywhere."

Regardless of what happens in Wednesday's quarterfinal match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Oudin appears to be going nowhere but up. Particularly now that she's followed up her fourth-round run at Wimbledon by advancing at least one round further at the U.S. Open.

"This is going to do a lot," Oudin said. "I think this is good for American tennis."

She's almost the only one helping the Red, White and Blue at the moment. She and second-seeded Serena Williams are the only two Americans left in singles after University of Georgia grad John Isner was eliminated Monday by Fernando Verdasco. It is the first time in history that no American male will play in a U.S. Open quarterfinal.

Isner, a former NCAA champion who will be in Chattanooga for a Dec. 3 exhibition with Mardy Fish and doubles greats Bob and Mike Bryan, had beat Andy Roddick in his previous match.

As for Oudin, it's not just her talent that has captivated the tennis public. As Anne Curran noted late Monday, "Just Melanie's classiness. She's even completely gracious when somebody hands her a towel. I'm just in awe of her."

Befitting most 17-year-olds, there have been times when she seemed in awe of her bigger name opponents. Yet that may have changed this past weekend.

Said Oudin after her latest win: "Now I know I do belong here. I can compete with these girls. I have a chance against anyone."

And so it continues, a sweet story about a sweet Southerner whose every victory is serenaded at the Open by the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" -- which begins, "Well, she was just 17."

It all has been enough to cause Wozniacki to remark about her match with Oudin, "Hopefully, someone will cheer for me."

No offense to the Danish damsel, but don't count on it.

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