American player Melanie Oudin has a message for everyone on her website,
“Don’t ever give up on anything you want to do. It takes a lot more than talent to reach your dreams, it takes to heart”.
She had a dream when she was 9-years-old. She was watching Wimbledon on television and she made a promise to herself that she would play there one day.
| Birthdate: | 23-September-1991 |
|---|---|
| Birthplace: | Marietta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Plays: | Right-Handed |
| Turned Pro: | 2008 |
In 2009 that promise was fulfilled when she won through the qualifying competition to get into the main draw and she beat Jelena Jankovic en route to the 4th round.
Born on September 23rd, 1991 she was introduced to Tennis at the age of 7-years-old when her grandmother Jo took her and her twin sister Katherine Oudin to the courts in their hometown of Marietta Georgia having given both the girls racquets. She is very close to her grandmother and enjoys playing gin rummy with her.
Oudin loved tennis straight away and after 7th grade with the support of her parents John and Leslie, she opted for homeschooling to devote more time to her tennis. She continued to live at home instead of going to a Tennis Academy and she rose steadily through the amateur ranks.
Her first events were on the ITF circuit in America in 2006 and in 2007 she won 27 consecutive matches en route to four consecutive titles in the ITF Junior Circuit.
Her first WTA was qualifying for Memphis and the US Open in 2007 and in February 2008 she turned professional.
She played in the US Federation Cup Team in 2009 and 2010 and she is also in the 2011 team with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Liezel Huber, and Vania King which started on February 5th in Antwerp when the USA played Belgium.
In 2009 she had a very good run in the US Open with wins over 4th seed Elena Dementieva, 29th seed Maria Sharapova, and 13th seed Nadia Petrova to become the youngest American player to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since Serena Williams in the 1999 US Open, but she lost to Caroline Wozniacki so did not make the semi-final.
She has the word Belief on her shoes which drives her on. The WTA gave her the Newcomer of the Year Award in 2009.
In the 2011 Australian Open she was beaten in the first round by Czech player Klara Zakopalova, who had already knocked her out in the first round of the Hobart International a few weeks before.
After the Federation Cup, she went onto Paris for the Open GDF Suez and then on to Memphis for the Cellular South Cup.
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