Remember Melanie Oudin? It’s OK if you don’t -- to be fair, her time as “America’s Sweetheart” was fleeting. She made a great run at the 2009 U.S. Open, becoming the youngest American to play in the quarterfinals since Serena, before bowing out in the quarters, all while just 17 years old. Unfortunately, she hasn’t won a match in a main draw since, a streak that was kept intact on Day 1 of the Australian Open, when she lost to Alla Kudryavtseva in three sets while fighting back tears. Greg Couch at FanHouse wonders if “America’s celebrity culture chewed up and spit out another [sweetheart].”
Melanie Oudin, The American Sweetheart America Forgot About
↵↵Photographers had gotten into a fight trying to get close to her in Times Square. She was crushing one top Russian player after another, from Maria Sharapova to Elena Dementieva. And every aspect of her life suddenly was unearthed, scooped up. She was the ultimate underdog story, a young blonde girl from Marietta, Ga. arriving in a flash.
↵By the time she played Wozniacki, she was already way in over her head, and her game fell apart.
↵But just because the spotlight turned away, that doesn’t mean her story is over. She is left to cope.
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