Melanie Oudin's fairytale run at the US Open came crashing down at the hands (or racquet?) of Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals tonight.
The 17-year old was a shadow of the lady baller who knocked off four consecutive higher-ranked Russians, hitting baskets of errors and constantly burying her forehand into the net during her 6-2, 6-2 loss. On the flip side, Wozzi played steady, heady ball baiting Mels into going for low-percentage shots from awkward positions on the court with her loopy groundies and angled attacks.
She'll face fellow 19-year old Yanina Wickmayer, who defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, for a spot in Saturday's big final.
Mels gave credit to the Danish teen during her post-match presser:
Q. So what happened out there tonight?
MELANIE OUDIN: You know, um, Caroline played a really good match. I think I started off slow. I wasn't able to come back. She's such a strong player. She doesn't give you anything for free.
She plays incredible defense. Makes me hit a thousand balls and really is a really great player. I mean, I don't know what else I could have done. I could have been more consistent and been more patient, but she really made me think out there and made me have to hit a winner on her to win the point.
I was missing some. I was a little too impatient, I think. But overall, I think she played a great match.
It seemed the pressure of the moment combined with all the recent attention (and probably not some unfortunate personal issues) may have gotten to Mels, who couldn't seem to play her 'A' game against a lady baller who forced her to come up with the goods. She seems to play her best when she has pace to work with in a match, something Wozzi doesn't bring to the table consistently. In any case, congrats to Mels on a tremendous breakthrough tourney and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her in the near future. *fingers crossed*
On a side note: does anyone else think Stella McCartney is celebrating her decision to dump Maria Kirilenko for Wozzi now? I mean, talk about GREAT timing.
(Photo: Getty)
What I don't understand about Stella's line is why only one player can wear it. If they really wanted to sell the product, they would have it on multiple players to maximize exposure.
ReplyDeleteMelanie has great potential and variety but I really hope she juices up her service game because unless she learns to hold serve, she'll never win anything of consequence.
I would think that the Stella line only selects one player to promote its line to remain an exclusive brand associated with prestige. If it was mass marketed, it would lose that quality.
ReplyDeleteMelanie looked like the pressure finally caught up to her last night from the moment she walked on the court. Understandable, for sure. I'm really happy for Caroline though to be through to the semi's!!
ReplyDeleteWoz looks 20 pounds fatter in the McCartney stuff. Kirilenko looked much better in it.
ReplyDeleteMel is such a sweetie. I really hope we'll see much much more of her in the future. And she can be really proud of herself.
ReplyDeleteWozzi's guaranteed to rise to number 6 no matter what. If she get's to the final, she'll enter the top 5. Now, if she wins it...
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