17-Year-Old Oudin Upsets Sharapova

By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 5, 2009 5:27 PM CDT
17-Year-Old Oudin Upsets Sharapova
Melanie Oudin of the United States, celebrates her 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Maria Sharapova of Russia, during the third round of the US Open tennis tournament in New York, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

She sat there in shock. Then, the tears started falling. Believe it or not, 17-year-old Melanie Oudin is the toast of the town at the US Open. Gritting her way through a shaky third set, the 70th-ranked player from Marietta, Ga., pulled off her second upset of the Open today, defeating a more-seasoned, more-famous, more-moneyed opponent—29th-seeded Maria Sharapova, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"I don't even know what to say right now," Oudin said, choking back tears in her postmatch interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium. "Thank you so much for cheering for me." Sharapova, who has won this tournament once, usually gets those cheers. But on this cloudless day in Queens, the fans were rooting for a new potential queen—the one who stamped the word "Believe" on her shoes, but probably didn't see this coming so soon. (More tennis stories.)

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